


SunD’s Love Playlist

by wowjunjun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Huang Ren Jun, Alpha Lee Donghyuck | Haechan, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Office, Alternate Universe - Radio, Blow Jobs, Denial of Feelings, Drunk Sex, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Knotting, M/M, Mutual Pining, Omega Huang Ren Jun, Public Sex, nahyuck are bffs, suppressants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:14:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27402583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wowjunjun/pseuds/wowjunjun
Summary: Huang Renjun was an enigma. To Lee Donghyuck, at least.He was their steadfast and short-tempered alpha producer, although his looks begged to differ. With his black hair framing his small face, his cute button nose, his soft cheeks, his short physique, Renjun looked so soft, so pretty, so... omega. Donghyuck admitted that there were times he purposely ignored the truth and deluded himself that Renjun was not an alpha.However, everyday Renjun made sure to prove Donghyuck’s delusions wrong.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Lee Donghyuck | Haechan
Comments: 38
Kudos: 348
Collections: A/B/O NCT Round 1





	SunD’s Love Playlist

**Author's Note:**

> i fell in love with this prompt but when i saw it, claiming already ended. but! thankfully claiming was reopened and so we're now here~ we need more (a/b/o) renhyuck honestly pnq
> 
> special thanks to my beta, kemi, and my sister, eureka, for bearing with me and my confused, indecisive ass. more importantly, thank you to mod e for this wonderful fest and for being patient with me as i procrastinated this fic. i initially planned it as 20k, but well... 
> 
> to the prompter of #A/B/O268, thank you for this lovely idea! i hope this meets your expectations <3 
> 
> i made SunD's Love Playlist - the actual songs he'll be mentioning in this fic - on spotify. click [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3U3yfRMpMQ5gBcEfviB8w1) if you want to listen.
> 
>   
> anyways, enjoy!

In all 23 years of his life, Lee Donghyuck had never thought he had problems with his hearing. Well, that is until now.

He must have heard it wrong. Certainly, the staff would not cancel such an important segment out of the blue, and more so without giving him a proper heads up. He was already at the studio, strutting some branded clothing, which is obviously sponsored as his bank account reflected, and a dashing hair and makeup courtesy of himself. With one hand gripping on his americano, he followed the technician who already walked past him.

“We’re still going to have the viewable radio tonight, right?” He asked in hopes he had just heard it all wrong.

The technician, who goes by the name of Seulgi, upon looking at her ID— Donghyuck’s terrible with names—turned to him and sighed. “I’m afraid I didn’t get any memo regarding any viewable radio for your corner, Hyuck. I was just told it’s regular programming.” She then resumed her job of going through all the equipment, making sure everything is working in good condition.

Donghyuck bit his lip, confusion and anger swimming on his nerves. His pheromones were probably stinking the whole studio right now — though quite muted by the building’s diffuser — judging by the worried and agitated looks Sooyoung, their omega writer, gave him. He excused himself, still remembering to be polite and respectful even at times such as this one, and went to search for the person in-charge of it all.

Huang Renjun.

Donghyuck went through all the possible places their producer might have gone — smoking area, cafe, lobby, even the producers’ office — yet there were no signs of the man. He was close to giving up when he thought of dropping by their studio again; maybe the PD had arrived already. And there he was: Huang Renjun, the Alpha PD of Donghyuck’s radio show, sitting on the couch while going through what might possibly be the script for tonight’s segment.

Donghyuck was quick to go towards the alpha. Standing before him, he tried to suppress his emotions; alphas might not be as keen as omegas, but they can also smell pheromones too. And if it’s coming from another alpha, there’s a huge chance it might develop into a brawl. While Donghyuck liked the idea, his rationality beat him and reminded him that he needs this job.

“Oh, Mr. Donghyuck, good timing! Here’s the revised copy of the script for tonight. I had it altered due to the sudden changes we had to do. Feel free to browse through it and let’s prepare for a smooth show, okay?”

The way Renjun acted as if the ‘sudden changes’ he mentioned were not that big of a deal stirred something in Donghyuck. This producer, while he might look all dashing and capable, was seriously an unprofessional, bossy prick!

“Why was I uninformed that the viewable radio would not push through?” He gritted his teeth, breathing in deeply to calm himself.

Renjun cocked a brow, “I’m sorry but why weren’t you told about it? I mentioned it last night, didn’t you hear it?”

No, Donghyuck did not hear any announcement as important as that one last night; all he knew was that Renjun was busy going through the YouTube comments when he left from work—not that he really focused on the PD, of course. Thus, he replied: “But what we agreed on last week was a viewable radio today, a special treat for the fans since we got three thousand listenership. I wouldn’t have prepared this much had I known it’d be cancelled.”

“Well, that sucks," Renjun started. "A viewable right now, at this day, doesn’t sound like it’ll rack viewers since it’s close to exams period, hence, I decided to not push through it. If you want, we can take a photo of you and post it on our program's official Instagram. You know…" he gestured his hands to Donghyuck, seemingly pointing out his outfit, "to not put all your efforts into waste.”

Donghyuck was affronted. While he knew Renjun had a point at cancelling the viewable radio, the settlement regarding his 'efforts' did not sit well with him. It's a good idea, yes, but the way it was said, especially in a place with a crowd, Donghyuck's alpha felt humiliated.

Seeing Donghyuck's quietness, Renjun deemed the case resolved. He stood up and motioned for everyone to start working.

“All right that’s settled, I assume. Let’s go chop chop! We’re going live in 20!”

In the 23 years of his life, Lee Donghyuck never thought he had problems with his temper. Well, that was until he met Huang Renjun.

⇢✴⇠

“I can’t fucking stand him.”

Donghyuck slammed his fist on the wooden table, groaning as he remembered the incident a few days ago. God, just the thought of that man already made his blood boil. His alpha badly wanted to shred him into pieces.

“Ohu, calm down big alpha. Here have some drink,” Jaemin, Donghyuck’s ever trusted confidante, popped out of the counter after preparing coffee for his friend and slid carefully in front of his fuming guest. The said man, who had bleached his hair back to blonde, grinned widely, clapping his hands and placing it on his chest like some preschool teacher. “Okay, my dear friend, how are you? You haven’t visited me for more than a week and now you have barged in at my lovely cafe looking like someone stole your french fry.”

“Someone stole my what?”

“It’s a saying. Anyways, let’s focus on the topic,” Jaemin crossed his legs and stared at his friend with a knowing look. “By chance, is it about your crush?”

Donghyuck, who was sipping his iced americano, spat his drink and coughed wildly from the incredulous guess of his best friend. “Crush? What the fuck. Yeah, I want to crush his face.”

“With your lips? Ooh, that’s hot,” Jaemin snickered, earning him a piercing glare from Donghyuck, who also threw him a ball of rolled tissues. “Alright, alright, you know I’m just kidding. I know who you are talking about, but what did he do this time?”

And so Donghyuck retold the story of his supposed viewable radio broadcast to Jaemin, who listened attentively and without adding side comments in between.

“And then he told me to just take a pic and post it on Instagram to compromise. Did you hear that, Jaemin? He just basically told me my efforts are shit!” Donghyuck concluded his monologue with a huff, crossing his arms on his chest.

Jaemin nodded and took a sip of his own coffee. “Oh wow, he told you that?”

“Well,” Donghyuck reclined on his seat. “He didn’t explicitly say the last part but that’s what my alpha felt.”

The blonde sighed and took a good look at his friend, his alpha friend who really had grown up so much since the first time they met. Though back then he already knew Donghyuck would present as an alpha with the signs aligning themselves (tall stature, wide shoulders, and commanding personality), he did not think about the complications that would come after presenting. As an omega, Jaemin could not grasp the importance of maintaining the integrity of one’s secondary gender. Why is alpha pride such a big deal? He could only shrug in response.

“You know, this is probably the first time I heard you citing your alpha. Is it because you are just threatened by your PD’s alpha?” Jaemin said after a long pause, his elbow on the table, propping up his chin.

Donghyuck opened his mouth, seeming to reply, but completely smacked his lips shut as he realized his friend’s point. It was really the first time he had ever used his alpha as an excuse for his anger. He promised himself to not let his emotions be controlled by his second gender, yet here he was.

Treating Donghyuck’s immediate silence as a sign to proceed, Jaemin mulled: “You do know he has a point, right? He even gave you a solution for your ‘effort’. He’s a decent PD, quit bitching just because he sounds so dismissive. If it really irks you, you could quit. You’re still a probee DJ after all, there’s no contract binding you with the company.”

Jaemin’s right — as he always was; Donghyuck thought it must be an omega’s intuition, or something along those lines. Indeed, there’s no reason for Donghyuck to be claiming offense on his PD’s attitude because: 1) he was usually not that kind of person, and 2) Renjun is just like that— rude.

Admitting his defeat, Donghyuck bit his lip and replied: “I can’t resign from this work. I need a job and this pays well.”

“Well you just gotta suck it up then.”

⇢✴⇠

_A few months ago..._

Donghyuck was short on cash.

He needed to pay for his rent and electricity, however his monthly budget for the month could only cater to his food and transportation expenses. He barely spent money on transportation actually; he’d walk the distance as much as he could. Though, he could not avoid some taxi trips, which cost a fortune, but he needed to arrive at his work on time and look as neat and as fresh as possible.

Prior to graduating eight months ago, Donghyuck thought he’d land on an amazing job position at some big company. He had fairly decent grades and a stellar personality — at least, that’s what he told the HR officers who interviewed him when he applied for them just after graduating. However, it was much easier imagined than done. In a country like Korea, securing a full-time job was very, very, ___very___ competitive. Employers valued connections, experience, and credentials— in order. Unfortunately for Donghyuck, he did not have the best of those three, leaving him still unemployed eight months after throwing his toga in the air.

Well, Donghyuck still had some way to make ends meet. Thankfully, his modelling stints here and there for random brands, magazines, and personal projects enabled him to carry on and survive alone. His parents already cut off their support after seeing their son finish his degree, deeming their son, an alpha, fit to fend for himself in the cold, cruel world. They actually left for a month-long Europe trip after his graduation and were still busy having the time for themselves, travelling the world they long dreamed of.

Donghyuck, again an ___alpha___ , thought it was okay. For eight months he was able to survive living independently… up until now.

The problem with his current work was that it’s ___freelance___. Some days he’d be fully-booked, busy like a celebrity, however, most days he’d just lay on his bed or busy himself with playing computer games. Due to modelling, he had quite a following on his social media, but that’s just about it. It was not as if Instagram paid him every time he reached another thousand followers, or thousand likes on his every post. Social media influence could only help him receive another project, which Donghyuck prayed he’d have right ___now___.

“Are you alright, Hyuck?”

His thoughts were halted by a voice laced with concern and a pat on his shoulder. It was from Jaemin, who’s currently sitting beside him at the local bar they frequently visited. (Again, if it was him, he couldn’t afford such luxury, but Jaemin insisted and said it’ll be his treat, after a successful anniversary of his ___own___ cafe. Oh to be as successful as his best friend, Donghyuck could not relate.)

“Yeah, you’ve been spaced out for like… a while now.” Jeno, another one of his confidantes (not the same level as Jaemin, or else the omega would be pissed) since college, caught his silence unusually.

Donghyuck straightened himself and shrugged, reaching for the shot in front of him and downing it in one go. He hissed as the alcohol slid his throat, a warm and welcome sensation. Jeno refilled his shot once he placed it on the table.

“I’m okay… it’s just that things are tight lately. I haven’t received any new emails nor new calls from prospective projects and I have pending dues next week. If I don’t pay my rent in full my landlord might kick me out.”

As soon as he finished opening up to his friends, Donghyuck grabbed the glass again and tipped it on his mouth like it’s water.

“Oh, Hyuck, baby, come here.” He got squeezed into a tight one arm hug from Jaemin, who was probably tipsy right now. “Do you need me to lend you some? Just for this month and only pay me back when you’re okay again.”

As much as Donghyuck wanted to reject the offer (receiving ___financial___ help from an omega was kinda deemed as a jab to an alpha pride, and all that), he knew he needed it. If he still wanted a roof under him, he should take up Jaemin’s offer. It was okay. They’re friends and friends help each other. No second genders could go over them.

“I’m curious, why couldn’t you just ask your parents? They’ll send you support as soon as you send a message for sure,” Jeno suggested.

The thing was… Donghyuck didn’t want to do that. He did not want to come running to his parents, asking for their help because their ___capable___ alpha son apparently could not provide on his own. He wanted them to just relax and spend their money on leisure. They had spent so much for him in two decades, it was time to live on his own now.

“Or, or, OR!” Jaemin started, clapping his hands excitedly, like a seal wiggling in delight. He suddenly detached from cuddling with Donghyuck and looked at his two friends knowingly.

“You could just get a proper job!” He said with a wide smile and flushed cheeks. Yeah, Jaemin was approximately two shots away from passing out.

Donghyuck sighed. “That is easier said than done,” he lamented, poking a piece of chicken and munching it. “For some reason, I don’t get hired.”

“Oh, our company is hiring right now,” Jeno mentioned in passing, too preoccupied with making origami with tissues on their table.

“Yes! That’s perfect!” Jaemin buzzed and turned to his best friend, shaking his shoulders. “Did you hear that Hyuckie? Jeno’s company has a vacancy right now! He’s working at a broadcasting station and you’re a communications graduate, that’s fucking perfect! That’s a sign!”

Donghyuck woke up the next day with a hangover and a message from Jeno. The beta sent him details on the said job vacancy. He forgot Jeno’s brother, Doyoung, worked at an established radio station. His eyes grew wider once he realized it’s Neo Station; he used to intern at the said company during his junior year, assisting the scriptwriter of the well-known and well-loved Neo Night Night program.

Right, he could have just gotten absorbed right after his internship but Donghyuck did not imagine working in that industry. He long imagined working at a corporate setting— with suits and fancy shit and all. Hence, he did not bother looking thoroughly at job openings in that field.

Now though, things were different. Donghyuck needed the promise of a fixed monthly income. He looked through his laptop for his CV and shot an email to Neo Station’s HR department.

A few days after, he received a reply, asking him for an interview at their office.

A couple of interviews and an exam (why was it needed, Donghyuck didn’t know) after, he received an email from Ten, the head HR, telling him he successfully made the cut and was now relaying details regarding the employment process.

He immediately contacted Jaemin, who cried and asked for them to celebrate it “as soonest as possible”. He also called Jeno, thanking him profusely for basically giving him a job. The beta only laughed and congratulated him.

Maybe, like Jaemin said, it was indeed a sign.

Things were looking bright for Donghyuck.

⇢✴⇠

Donghyuck found out he had a knack for endlessly talking by himself.

When he met Kun, the head of programs, he did not think much of his job. He applied as a scriptwriter because the station planned to launch a new program soon and he was pretty alright with script writing given his past internship stint. However, Kun offered him something else. Apparently, Ten noted his enthusiasm and responses during the interview as possible fit for the DJ position. All Donghyuck remembered was that Ten and he had a smooth conversation; he just rambled his answers and even told some back stories here and there.

“Sometimes first love doesn’t come in a perfectly wrapped gift with ribbons and a dedication paper. More often, first love just comes. It slaps you in the face when you least know it. And it stings, so much that you’re left with its scar. How did your first love come through? Send us your stories and let’s talk about the different love experiences only here at Love Corner. You’re with SunD 'till 11 o’clock. For now here’s Hoody with Like You.”

Donghyuck never once imagined he’d be a radio DJ. A solo one at that. But now here he was, officially becoming Love Corner’s resident DJ. He wasn't only Lee Donghyuck, he’s now SunD, the bubbly and romantic host of Neo Station’s love counseling program.

⇢✴⇠

The first time he met the whole team was nothing but exhilarating. It was quite bizarre for Donghyuck to see a bunch of people with all sorts of roles working with him every weekday; he was used to working with different people according to his model project. Nevertheless, all seemed to be kind and interesting characters. Donghyuck knew then that he was in good hands; these people would help his inexperienced ass learn the ropes of being a radio DJ.

Such was very much affirmed when he met the producer of Love Corner — a young man named Huang Renjun. Kun introduced them to each other, saying that they’re of the same age and hence he expected a good working dynamic between the two.

As introduction through second gender was beginning to become rarer in time, most, if not all, did not bother mentioning their presentation. Donghyuck did not even know Kun, Ten, and the rest of his team; he was certain that they knew he’s an alpha though, with his exemplary smell of musk and sandalwood that Jaemin absolutely loathed (“You stink so much my nose cannot take it!”). Although, there would be some qualities he could base his assumptions.

He thought of Kun as an alpha due to his sharp features and commanding stature; he was even the head of programs, such authority was normally bestowed upon alphas. Whereas, Donghyuck was sure that Ten was an omega; the head of HR had soft, pretty features, small stature, and fragrant smell of lilac (that he just happened to have a whiff of when they were outside; their building had a full-on pheromone diffuser technology). He probably got the headship since as HR, one should have a good grasp of a person’s character, a trait omegas naturally have.

Huang Renjun, however, Donghyuck could not place for certain. He eyed the producer subtly as the said man laughed along with something Kun said. Renjun was short, a little shorter than him as they stood in front of each other. He was also incredibly pretty, his black hair framing his small face perfectly, his eyes shining, and his smile blinding. Now, it might seem like he was ogling Renjun, but Donghyuck just knew how to appreciate beauty when he sees it. The PD was ___just___ that.

But that did not make him an omega right away. Donghyuck was aware that there were plenty of alphas who were also pretty and alphas who were also short. Sometimes genetics, no matter how second gender influenced the features, were much more powerful, completely overturning some stereotypical alpha-beta-omega physical appearances.

“I completely entrust our dear Donghyuck to you, Renjun. He’s pretty new to the industry so be kind to him.”

Kun’s voice snapped Donghyuck from his thoughts. The said man patted Renjun on the back then turned to Donghyuck. “Renjun might be young but he’s excellent. I wouldn’t give him a program to lead if I’m not sure. If you have questions and ideas, you can consult with him.”

“You flatter me, Kun. I’m just doing my job, but thank you for the trust. It means a lot,” Renjun replied, smiling widely. He has a very pretty smile, Donghyuck thought.

“Well then, I’ll leave you two. Ten might be drunk already.”

After Kun left, the two drank each of their alcohol in awkward silence. For some reason, Renjun exuded a very frightening aura and Donghyuck, despite being an alpha, was admittedly quite intimidated. He sniffed for some lingering scent, something that might prove the Renjun’s second gender, but there was none. He cleared his throat and smiled at his producer.

“I’m excited to work with you.”

Renjun raised his brow and gave him a half-smile. “Likewise. Do your job well and we’ll get along just fine. Alpha-alpha dynamics and all that.”

Oh, Renjun is an alpha, Donghyuck concluded. An intimidating, yet very pretty one.

⇢✴⇠

There were just times where he wished he did freelance instead.

The good thing about freelance was that it’s ___free___ , meaning Donghyuck could alter the days where he would work and the days where he would laze around. Safe to say that he really preferred having more time for himself, which led to his unfortunate bankruptcy months ago.

Not that his radio job was taxing. It had a decent fixed schedule since he only needed to work on weekdays from nine to eleven in the evening. It also came with great benefits: health insurance, weekly bonuses (if they hit quota listenership), and popularity, among others Ten had prepared for him. His job was a dream. It was so good. Except maybe for one.

Monday morning team meetings.

Donghyuck did not understand the necessity of scheduling a weekly meeting on a Monday, a ___morning___ to top it off. They could have it at, like… the afternoon or maybe a few hours before they go on air. But, Renjun decided it so they had no choice.

Speaking of the said man, he was seated on the middle of the long table, looking at the slideshow in front of him with criticism in eyes. Donghyuck saw him bite his lip as he looked interchangeably at his notes and the slide.

“And that’s it for the progress report,” Jisoo, their research staff, concluded, earning an applause from everyone.

“Thanks, Jisoo,” Renjun started, which made everyone in the room on the edge. “Now, what do you guys think? Any suggestions for our radio this week?”

There was silence. Everyone was avoiding looking at Renjun far too long, else they might get called. God, Donghyuck was reminded by his professors back in college. Renjun was not a professor yet everyone was hesitant to open their mouth, fearing the PD might lash on them.

Renjun, clearly annoyed by the silence, spoke. “I guess we don’t have to do anything this week. just the usual program since all of you were quiet. We’re satisfied with the meager improvement in ratings and trust Donghyuck to garner the listeners as he talks on the microphone. Okay, so should I end the meeting now?”

The team obviously did not want to end the meeting right away. Donghyuck saw them throwing glances at each other, gesturing one to speak first so that the discussion would commence. However, they were all nervous and they had a reason to be; Renjun did not look amicable today (as always, Donghyuck’s brain supplied).

Fed up with the silence, Donghyuck cleared his throat. Everyone’s eyes shifted to him, including Renjun’s. “I think we can add a guest, fixed or not, on a certain day. Say Friday? So that I’d have someone to talk with, another perspective about the topics too.”

There was an obvious collective sigh of relief. They were glad someone, in this case Donghyuck, was brave enough to start the meeting. The team nodded in agreement, seeing his suggestion as plausible.

“That’s actually a good idea. After all with a main topic such as love, another voice could be an interesting mix.”

“Uh, I think we need a guest that is a complete opposite of Donghyuck.”

“An omega!”

There were agreements and jeers from ___mostly___ everyone in the room. It was as if they finally got the missing piece to a thousand piece puzzle, believing that this idea would be a sure hit to attract unique listeners into the radio program.

Unfortunately, their fun did not last for long. Renjun made his presence known again by tapping his pen on the table.

“Hm, the idea is not bad though I honestly don’t think we can outsource an omega personality right now. Yooa, can we spare a budget for this?”

The beta, their finance manager, sat upright as she heard her name. She immediately fished for her own set of documents and looked at the PD warily. “Uh, I’m afraid we can’t. We are tight until the end of the month.”

Renjun smiled at Yooa and turned to the team. “As I thought. We don’t want our pays to get cut off just to attend an extra person, an omega to be precise, in the team, don’t we?” He said, but his eyes were on Donghyuck for reasons the latter didn’t know. Though, Donghyuck knew that staffing omegas in a business is costly; omegas enjoyed more company benefits such as triannual heat leave, pregnancy leave, etc. “Could we do something else? Something that requires less expenses? Marketing, any ideas? I’m sure you’ve thought of something.”

The marketing managers, Seungkwan and another guy (Donghyuck couldn’t recall the name), paled as the attention was directed to them. They elbowed each other, urging the other to speak instead. In the end, Seungkwan felt the need to throw out an idea on the table.

“What if we open a segment for real-time stories, like they will call our hotline?”

Renjun, with a hand on his jaw, scratching his chin, mulled over the idea. “That’s interesting. Expand on the details.”

The meeting continued with everyone collaborating on the proposed idea by Seungkwan. Though there were still times Renjun had to dismiss some out-of-the-world ideas, Donghyuck did not understand how crazy intimidating the PD was. He might be small and might look a bit like an omega with his ___very___ pretty face, but his aura screamed of alpha. Donghyuck could not relate. Maybe he was conditioned to be a soft alpha for all he knew.

Later that night, the team met again for their daily program schedule. Donghyuck was all alone in the recording booth while the rest of the team were outside, managing the stream, technical, and ratings.

“Unfortunately, it’s already 10 o’clock. That means we have to bid goodbye for tonight. Thank you for staying with me for an hour, we’ll meet each other again, same time, same place. This has been SunD and I’m leaving with Bonnie and Clyde by Dean. Bye bye!”

As soon as the song was mentioned, Jisung, their mixer, eased in the track and muted Donghyuck’s microphone. He also turned off the on-air light atop the glass door separating the radio booth and nodded at Donghyuck, which the latter took as a sign to pack up, gathering his bag and taking his empty coffee tumbler. The DJ was about to exit the recording room when he saw a stranger enter their booth and talk to Renjun.

“Hey Donghyuck, good job tonight as always,” Jisung greeted him as soon as he opened the door. He complimented the young beta in return, who blushed as he redirected his attention to the mixing table, locking a few tracks to play after the song ended.

“Jun, are you coming?” Donghyuck heard the stranger ask Renjun, his voice was deep, alluring, and screamed ___alpha.___ He eyed the stranger discreetly; the man was very tall and had a well-built physique. Donghyuck could not help but touch his own biceps, which pale in comparison to the stanger’s.

Thankfully, his road to insecurity came to halt as Renjun approached the man. Donghyuck feigned attention elsewhere, looking at his phone for any important notifications.

“Let’s go?” The man said, grabbing Renjun’s bag and slinging it on his muscular arm. Surprisingly, Renjun did not put up a fight.

Before they left, Renjun turned to Donghyuck and greeted him politely for a job well done.

Before they left, Donghyuck heard the stranger tell Renjun: “I already ordered our dinner. We can pick it up on our way home.”

⇢✴⇠

“Just who is that man?”

Donghyuck took a bite of the cheesecake and huffed. For some reason, he had not slept well last night because his mind kept replaying ___that___ scenario over and over again. Donghyuck was a curious guy and it did not settle with him that there’s that guy in the picture now.

“Good afternoon to you too, Hyuck. I’m doing well thanks for asking,” Jaemin replied, a bit sarcastic as he settled on the seat in front of his friend. Donghyuck always visited Jaemin’s cafe before he went on air, claiming he needed his daily coffee fix though Jaemin believed it’s because his friend wanted to support his business as much as he could.

Donghyuck rolled his eyes and pouted. “Sorry, I love you Jaem but I didn’t get a blink of sleep last night so I’m annoyed right now.”

“Aw, poor baby. What did Renjun do again this time?”

He squinted his eyes and took a good look at his best friend; the blonde just smiled innocently and leaned on his seat. He wanted to ask how he knew, but maybe it was just Jaemin’s omega instincts again.

Once Donghyuck was done retelling the event last night, Jaemin chuckled and snatched a spoonful of Donghyuck’s cheesecake.

“I don’t see the problem here. I think your PD has an alpha boyfriend.”

Donghyuck spluttered his drink. “Alpha boyfriend? That man is his boyfriend?”

Jaemin nodded, “I think so, basing from what you told me of course. They’re the domestic couple shit, huh. Must be nice.” He sighed dreamily and looked from afar, though his wishful thinking didn’t last because his thoughts got snapped by something.

Folding his arms across his chest, he tilted his head and studied his friend. Ever since Donghyuck got this job, all his rambles centered around one topic; he barely talked about his other coworkers or his office— just this one colleague. Thus, Jaemin wasn’t fully surprised that the alpha came barging in his cafe in a foul mood—as he always seemed to be, if it’s about Renjun—however, ___this___ was completely new.

Raising an eyebrow, he grinned and speculated. “But why are you this invested? By chance, are you jealous?”

Donghyuck huffed, indignant. “I’m just curious and annoyed. How dare he let a stranger inside our workspace and flirt during work hours!”

“Hmm technically it was after work hours, don’t you think?”

“My point still stands.”

Donghyuck could not believe it but his best friend really had a point. Despite the older generations fully believing in the traditional alpha-omega and beta-beta pairings, society had progressed and had now started to accept the existence of various relationships. Donghyuck just did not peg Renjun to be into alphas, a dashingly sexy hot alpha to be exact.

⇢✴⇠

“That was It's Not Jealousy by Chloe Alviar. You’re still with me, SunD at the only place to be, Love Corner. Yesterday we posted on our socials and program board that we are going to have a special segment tonight. Without further ado, let’s welcome our first ever caller! Hello?”

There was silence. Donghyuck internally panicked and glanced at his team behind the glass dividing the radio booth. Renjun, after talking to Seulgi, gave him a thumbs up, meaning the call was not disconnected.

“Hello, are you here?” Donghyuck tried again, doing his best to avoid radio silence as much as possible. That’s a very big sin in this industry, he remembered Renjun telling him on his first day.

“Uhm… hi SunD,” there was finally a reply from the other line. The caller’s voice was meek and shy, obviously nervous for the situation on hand.

“Hello, welcome to Love Corner, may I have your name?”

“My, my name is… Soonyoung. Thank you for accepting my call, SunD,” the caller, Soonyoung replied.

Donghyuck smiled, though his listeners might not know it, but he was happy and a bit excited for this experience. “Hi, Soonyoung! The pleasure is mine as well. May I ask why did you call our love hotline tonight? Any worries or confessions you want to share?”

“Uh, I have this big crush on my omega friend. He’s very charming and cute, though a bit reckless and tactless. We’ve known each other since elementary and we’ve been attached to the hip ever since we stepped into high school. Uh, the problem is I’m an omega too and I don’t know if he’ll accept or reject me once I confess. Please give me any advice, SunD.”

On his peripheral vision, he could see his team tense. One of the advantages of taking in stories and requests via messages and posts was that they could filter the topics and prepare a brief answer beforehand. However, now Donghyuck was all alone. They did not screen the callers of course, but they only put them on hold once they accepted the call. Renjun, Donghyuck observed, was staring him, his face was neutral but Donghyuck felt the pressure to not fuck up and give a ridiculous answer.

“You know, Soonyoung,” he began, hands clasping on the table.”You’ll never know until you try. Cliche as it may seem, but that’s the best advice I could give you. Do you think omega-omega relationships are unacceptable?”

“No, all kinds of relationships are valid,” Soonyoung muttered.

“Exactly. All kinds of relationships, regardless of second gender, are very much valid. We can love anyone just because we do. Love does not need to adhere to rules. However, I must say that before diving headfirst you should at least test the waters. Do you think the feeling is mutual?”

“Uhm…” Soonyoung pondered. “I guess it is? I mean, he also acts clingy and does some things like preparing me food, fetching me after my last class just to go home together… that stuff.”

Donghyuck, delighted at his caller’s response, leaned forward to his mic. “Well then, I guess that’s something you can tread on! Do you think he accepts omega-omega relationships?”

“Of course, he has always been proactive at those kinds of topics. He joins some mobilizations too, you know, fighting for the rights of the minority,” Soonyoung immediately replied.

“Well, I believe you have your answer right there, Soonyoung. You can take the leap, if you want. Tell us how it goes!”

⇢✴⇠

Huang Renjun was an enigma.

To Lee Donghyuck, at least.

He was not like the usual alpha by appearance, with his black hair framing his small face, his cute button nose, his soft cheeks—Donghyuck sometimes forgot Renjun’s real second gender. The PD was small, not tiny like female omegas, but smaller in comparison to Donghyuck, to alphas in general. It was not that Donghyuck was regularly checking Renjun out, he just couldn’t help but notice the little things. Renjun had small hands that could barely carry the thick script book, his phone, and his tumbler (which Donghyuck overheard is always full of warm tea, either Jasmine or Chamomile). Renjun had a petite physique; Donghyuck might have not had the luxury to see Renjun show some skin—for he has always worn oversized hoodies and polos—but it was pretty obvious from just looking at the producer.

Renjun looked so soft, so pretty, so... ___omega___.

Donghyuck admitted that there were times he purposely ignored the truth and deluded himself that Renjun was ___not___ alpha.

However, everyday Renjun made sure to prove Donghyuck’s delusions wrong.

Renjun was The Bull—an infamous name given to him because of his exemplary attitude towards work. Countless times Donghyuck had seen Renjun lose his temper from task mishaps, shouting at anyone who came to the station unprepared and walking out whenever things got heated, probably afraid to bring his alpha to the argument. Donghyuck had noticed the staff paving the way and bowing their heads every time Renjun crossed the hallways of the station; some even quivered in fear, standing upright with eyes casted on the floor as if they were kids who got caught by their school principal. Donghyuck raised his eyebrows at them, especially to the alphas who submitted to Renjun so willingly. Why were they scared of a tiny alpha?

Truth be told, Donghyuck wasn't bothered the slightest.

He was interested, very interested that he observed so much. He noticed miniscule things; he tended to do that to perceive the situation and the people correctly. It just so happened that Renjun piqued his curiosity so much that he did not submit—never, not even the slightest—to the producer’s dominating alpha. Donghyuck knew his own alpha well and had resolved to never yield to another unless it was a matter of life and death situation.

Donghyuck was full of inquisitiveness though, he wanted to know Huang Renjun.

He tried befriending the producer. ___Tried___ because no matter how much small talk Donghyuck had initiated, Renjun would just look at him and raise his brow, sometimes he would not even spare him a glance and continue what he was doing.

“Hi Renjun! It’s a lovely day today, have you eaten lunch?” Donghyuck asked most days, entering the studio with a wide smile on his face only for his question to be fully ignored by Renjun, who’s too preoccupied with organizing the team files on his tablet.

“Mr. PD, I’m excited for today’s broadcast. Oh, here’s a coffee for you,” Donghyuck once handed a cup of vanilla latte to Renjun as they walked across the lobby. After seeing the producer scan his ID at the entrance, he immediately skipped towards him, wanting to initiate a conversation.

“I got it from my friend’s cafe, you should try visiting them they have—”

“Donghyuck,” Renjun started, interrupting his spiel about Jaemin’s cafe. “I appreciate the gesture, but I don’t drink coffee.”

“Oh, I see,” Donghyuck muttered. The elevator pinged, its doors slowly opening, halting their ___very___ short talk. Renjun entered first and Donghyuck could see the acknowledgement and awkwardness of the people inside who knew the producer. He sighed and stepped inside the machine, the coffee on his hand no longer serving its purpose. Does Jisung drink coffee?

A few times Donghyuck debated on sending Renjun a Kakao message. Their team had a group chat in order to make communication among each other easier; announcements were usually pinned at the top so everyone could take note and prepare beforehand. Donghyuck had not personally asked for Renjun’s Kakao ID but it was there, on the group chat. The PD was part of the GC, of course, as he was usually the only one talking there, apart from Seungkwan’s constant dinner invitations.

Donghyuck could just easily tap on Renjun’s icon, click on the free chat button, and shoot him a message. A simple ‘hi’ could perhaps suffice, add a bit of ‘what’s up’ if Renjun answers warmly, but he was hesitant, for some reason he just could not muster the courage to message Renjun. He just wanted to be amiable; he wanted to be friends with everyone. However, Renjun’s too elusive.

Donghyuck wanted to grasp him and know him better. There’s ___something___ about him that drove the DJ’s curiosity mad.

Three months since working with him, and he barely had answers to his questions.

⇢✴⇠

The hallway of Neo Station’s floor was pristine and spotless. On both sides were elevators, two on each, since the NCT Broadcasting housed a multitude of platforms. A part of the wall was furnished with the station’s logo, and beside was a huge shelf where dozens of trophies and awards were placed. The hallway was usually quiet, save for employees getting in and out of the elevators, chatting animatedly as they went towards their cubicles and studios.

It should be silent but to Donghyuck, it felt noisy. His heart was loud, pounding his chest like a madman, and his feet were restless, pacing around the hallway. He glanced at his phone: the clock read 8:50 PM, the inbox empty of new messages. He had 10 more minutes 'till his live broadcast; he should have been at the studio, waiting for the program before him to conclude, but he wasn’t. Donghyuck was here waiting in the hallway.

“Any moment now,” Donghyuck thought, biting his lips and focusing on the four elevators. The signs above were showing different floor numbers, he wished one would stop at the 7th floor, where he was.

Trust Donghyuck to forget a very important item for work. Ever since he started, he had always been proactive, making sure he could input his own ideas and concerns. Such was also evident in his scripts. As soon as the scriptwriter handed him the copy for tomorrow, he would immediately study it as soon as he reached home and write his own notes and adlibs along the file.

However, last night he opted to print out the document, reasoning that his eyes had been hurting from continuously being exposed to blue light (he had been playing a new mobile game nonstop). He earnestly jotted down his additional script on the paper, which he forgot to bring on the way to work.

Well, it was not that he completely forgot it at his place, he’s sure he brought it with him when he went to visit Jaemin at his cafe.

“Lee Donghyuck! Be thankful I exist or you would already be dead meat!”

Speaking of Jaemin, one of the elevators finally stopped at his floor and revealed his best friend, wearing his usual cafe getup—long-sleeved polo shirt and trousers—and looking pointedly at him.

Donghyuck, out of pure relief, ran towards the omega and engulfed him into a bone-crushing hug. “Thanks, Jaem. I really owe you one!”

Jaemin was about to counter but they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

“Uh, Donghyuck it’s three minutes before we go on air and Renj- the PD’s looking for you,” the intern said, both frantic and embarrassed.

He detached himself from his best friend and glanced at his phone—it was already 8:58 PM and there’s 5 missed calls on Kakao from Renjun. “Shit, I need to hurry!”

In a haste, he forgot about Jaemin and sprinted towards their studio. He arrived with barely a minute to spare and quickly settled himself on his spot, putting his earphones on, laying down his printed script, and taking a sip of water to prepare his throat for his spiel.

When the theme song of his radio program started fading, he cleared his throat and waited for a few seconds. One, two, three...

“Have you ever had a silly crush? That one person... you don’t know why, but you just find yourself crushing over them and thinking of them almost 24/7. Hey there lovesick listeners, this is SunD and you’re tuned in to Love Corner. You’re going to be with me from 9pm to 10pm and talk about our silly crushes. Send me your stories at our bulletin or via text message and I’ll read them later. For now, here’s Eric Nam and Cheeze with Perhaps Love.”

The rest of the time passed quickly; too soon the clock struck ten and Donghyuck bid the listeners goodbye. As the ending song started, he packed up his things and exited the recording room. He was startled to see Jaemin sitting comfortably on the couch, chatting amicably with the rest of the staff.

“What are you doing here?”

His best friend looked up to him and shrugged. “You left me at the hallway, so I followed you here. They allowed me to stay, so I thought we could go home together, since I brought my car.”

Donghyuck pursed his lips and nodded, clearly not having expected Renjun to agree on letting a non-staff inside the studio, especially when the program was on-air. He glanced at the PD and found him scrolling through their community board, actively reading the responses of their listeners on tonight’s broadcast, gauging the success of tonight’s episode.

“Oh! Oh! I have an idea!” Seungkwan suddenly squealed, bouncing on his seat and slapping Mingyu’s arm. Everyone turned their attention to the marketing staff, who’s looking at Donghyuck and Jaemin back and forth.

“What if we make Jaemin a guest in Love Corner?”

The suggestion took everyone by surprise. Everyone, including Jaemin, stared at Seungkwan in disbelief, still absorbing the idea.

“That’s actually not a bad idea! Jaemin is an omega and Donghyuck is an alpha, they can talk about the differences!” Mingyu supplied.

“Right, and since Jaemin is just a normal person, it’ll make it more authentic and cheaper too. No offense,” Yooa said, glancing at the fellow omega.

“None taken,” Jaemin smiled, shrugging.

Donghyuck just remained frozen on his spot as he quietly assessed the situation. Everyone around him was excited, completely on board with the idea. It made sense to him too; there were many pros of this opportunity, the first one being the comfort of sharing the spotlight with someone he’s familiar with. Jaemin and he could debate on anything and everything—the thought of doing it on air already thrilled him.

“What do you think about it, Huang PD?”

Seeing everyone’s agreement to his proposal, Seungkwan sought the producer for the final approval, which immediately shifted the focus to the alpha. Renjun, who was actually listening throughout the whole exchange, lifted his eyes away from the monitor and turned to his team.

“Well, you guys made your points but I’m not sure if Mr. Jaemin would like to—”

“I’m cool with it,” Jaemin halted him halfway, earning a few gasps from some of the staff around him. Everybody knew better than to interrupt their boss while he’s talking.

Renjun, seemingly appalled, turned to Jaemin and smiled. “Well, thank you for your interest. But I don’t think you’d be best fit for the corner. How would we attract more listeners if the partner isn’t also a known omega celebrity?”

Donghyuck scoffed at that. Renjun threw him a glare at his obvious dissatisfaction.

“Haven’t you already expressed your concern over our budget about this guesting idea weeks ago? I do think it’s okay for Jaemin to guest since he’s an omega too, and I’m comfortable with him.”

It seemed like Renjun wanted to disagree and argue further, but after looking at the faces of everyone, he sighed and let it go.

“Alright. Let’s fix the schedule tomorrow. It’s too late for this, go home now.”

At the sound of approval rolling off the producer’s tongue, everyone hooted in glee, Seungkwan hugging Mingyu tightly like he had survived a heart attack.

Donghyuck chuckled and stepped closer to Jaemin, who was wiggling his brows knowingly. He held out his hand which the omega grabbed and used to pull himself up.

“Well Mr. DJ, let’s go?” Jaemin said, his voice was sultry but Donghyuck knew he was just teasing.

He swung his arm to Jaemin’s shoulder and pressed him in a side hug as they went outside the studio, greeting the staff politely.

Unbeknownst to Donghyuck, Renjun stared at them until their figures disappeared from the hallway, a look of distaste on his face and a sour feeling on his stomach.

⇢✴⇠

“Good evening lovesick listeners! You’re tuned in to another night of Love Corner with me, SunD, at the nation’s hottest Neo FM. Tonight though! We have a surprise for you guys. What could it be?”

Donghyuck spoke teasingly into the microphone, as if he was talking to his audience personally. He had been doing this for months now thus he’d already found comfort in talking alone, imagining a few people around him. However, tonight would be different and he was already buzzing in excitement.

“Yes, Listener 119 your guess is right! I’m finally having a guest on my show. Joining me tonight is none other than my best friend, an omega, Jaemin. Jaemin, please say hi to our listeners.” He looked at the other, urging him to speak.

Jaemin grinned at him, pressing the earphones to his ears before leaning into the microphone. “Hello, lovesick listeners. I'm Jaemin and it’s a pleasure to be here.”

Hearing Jaemin’s voice through the earphones was a new yet very welcome sensation to Donghyuck. He couldn’t believe his best friend, of all people, was here as his first radio guest. Pressing his lips together, he read his script.

“Alright, he’s just actually just here to drop by to be the most supportive best friend ever,” Donghyuck decided to go off script by throwing a teasing remark to Jaemin, which the latter accepted willingly.

“That’s true. I’m the ___bestest___ friend ever for how many years now? Yet I have not gotten anything in return.”

“That’s a fat lie, my dear friend. You know how I always drop by your cafe to buy a coffee. That’s called support, you know.”

Their banter seemed natural, as if they weren’t inside a studio on-air for the whole country to hear. Donghyuck and Jaemin had been friends for too long that awkwardness was an unknown vocabulary to them.

“Anyways,” Donghyuck intercepted, going back to their script. “Before we go on and spend the entire hour bantering, Jaemin is actually here to really have a debate with me because tonight, we’re going to talk about the differences of an alpha and an omega when it comes to relationships. Things like what we perceive and what we do may be different due to our second gender. I’ve also come across many listeners who sought my advice in which I was uncertain since I’m not confident with omega behavior.”

“Yes, that’s right. I’m here to be the omega voice of reason. Quick disclaimer though! Please take my thoughts, opinions, and advice ___still___ with a grain of salt because even though I’m an omega, I cannot fully speak for the entirety of us. Take it as something I’d do if I were in that situation instead!”

Impressed with Jaemin’s adlib, Donghyuck nodded and moved along with the program. “Before we delve into the discussion, here’s Honne with Day 1.”

Once the song ended, their discussion about the differences between the second genders started with Donghyuck picking a question from the listeners. Their first topic was about confessions.

“Let’s be real here, we are under the belief that alphas should be direct and confident to their love interest, whereas omegas should be meek and patient for any alphas to sweep their feet yada yada... we all know that such belief is soooo old school,” Donghyuck expressed.

Jaemin nodded, although the listeners couldn’t see. “That’s very true. We, omegas, could confess too! If we like someone, why not? After all feelings are feelings, regardless of gender. If you like someone, go for it. Do something. Or just pine from far away. I know an alpha who pines from afar anyway.”

Donghyuck squinted his eyes at Jaemin, trying to decode who’s the alpha he is talking about. Jaemin chortled and continued speaking.

“Alphas could also be oblivious of their own feelings too. Sometimes they don’t admit their growing infatuation, and because of that, I can’t help but agree that alphas are indeed stubborn.”

“Wait—hold on, aren’t you supposed to speak on behalf of the omegas?” Donghyuck back tracked, confused as to why Jaemin’s giving testaments about alphas.

“Yeah, but I know some alphas too. The things I say are from experience,” Jaemin replied, shrugging, and giving his best friend a knowing look.

Donghyuck shot back in his defense. “Well, I’d like everyone to know that I’m not like that.”

“Oh, but... I did not mention any names.” Jaemin’s grin was wider now, enjoying the whole tirade with his friend.

“I’m just saying!” Donghyuck pointed out, pouting, which earned a chortle from the omega. “Anyways, we’re getting lost now. The point is! People are different, though we cannot fully erase the fact that it's in our ‘nature’ to behave stereotypically because research says so. Both could be stupid too. That’s what love does to us. Love makes us stupid.”

The rest of the program went well; the two best friends continued bickering about their opinions, but in the end agreed that it was still up to the person to decide. Donghyuck has never enjoyed an episode as much as this one. Having a person to converse with as you discuss love problems was definitely better than doing it alone.

From then on, the hour passed swiftly; Donghyuck already gave the ending spiel and the final song for tonight, greeting their listeners good night and hoping they enjoyed the entire program as much as he did. As the two went outside the booth, they were welcomed by applause and compliments from the team.

“That was amazing!”

“One of the best episodes of Love Corner!”

“Hope Mr. Jaemin could be our fixed guest, he’s funny!”

Both were overwhelmed with the positive feedback. Donghyuck believed the praises, for he also acknowledged tonight’s broadcast as one of his favorites. Nevertheless, he could not feign his surprise at the last remark; as much as he’d want that to happen, the final say still went to their PD.

Speaking of the producer, Donghyuck scanned the room and found him at his usual spot in front of the monitor screen, gauging the overall reception of their listeners. Renjun turned to them after a while and beamed.

“That’s a wrap! Congratulations, everyone!” He exclaimed, earning hoots and cheers from everyone. “It seems like our listeners liked the change tonight. We couldn’t do this without you, Mr. Jaemin. Thank you for agreeing.”

Jaemin nodded and grinned at Renjun, cheeks red from all the compliments. “The pleasure is all mine, Mr. PD. I’m more than glad you agreed about the idea, actually. Oh, and you can call me Jaemin, Donghyuck here told me we’re also of the same age.”

Renjun’s eyes twitched in interest. “Oh really? He talked about me?”

“I only heard good things, of course. He said you’re passionate and driven, and after getting to work with you, I can fully attest to that.” Jaemin answered, looking over to where Donghyuck was, sitting beside Jisung while fixing his bag.

“You flatter me Jaemin,” said Renjun, who clapped to gather everyone’s attention again. “Alright, to keep our spirits up, how about a round of drinks? On me!”

⇢✴⇠

Apart from being intensely fervent over work matters, Renjun was also named as The Bull because he does not seem to get sick at all. Donghyuck learned such information from the gossip circulating around the office. Nobody knew who started calling the PD that name, but it seemed like Renjun did not mind (or he chose not to, Donghyuck’s unsure).

Deciding not to fully believe in such rumors until he’d seen it himself, he began observing Renjun more. The producer just holed himself up in his cubicle most times, managing the entire progress of their program and creating reports for Kun. He had seen the smaller alpha take a break a few times. Once he went to the patio for a quick smoke break; he saw Renjun sitting alone on the bench as he finished his stick. He sat beside him and got his own box of smoke, pulling one out. He also learned that Renjun’s not the outgoing type; he had turned down Seungkwan’s invitations many times, only going out with the team whenever they reached a goal.

From those observations, Donghyuck concluded that indeed, the rumors were true. Renjun was ‘The Bull’. Not once had he seen the alpha show any signs of weakness or sickness. Renjun had also perfected the art of concealing his stress—something Donghyuck was quite envious of.

This was why he was quite stupefied with Renjun’s behavior these days.

Renjun seemed to be... out of his zone lately. He still worked nonstop and made sure that everything worked smoothly and perfectly, however, Donghyuck could not help but notice that the producer was less strict.

He did not chide Joy for forgetting to send the scripts to him on time when he used to ___always___ nag at the poor scriptwriter that he needed the script for checking at 8 AM sharp. He just nodded at the omega after the latter handed the script to him with shaking hands. No other words but “you may go” was said, Joy breathing a sigh of relief once she was settled in her own cubicle.

Renjun was more accepting of everyone’s ideas during their weekly team meeting. That surprised not only Donghyuck, but the rest of the team. They were even more dumbfounded when the PD considered the idea dumps as viable and noted them for future discussion and implementation.

What’s weirder was that Renjun replied to the people who greeted him along the corridors. Donghyuck even saw him give a small smile to some of the employees. He greeted Donghyuck with a weak “good afternoon” to which the latter looked at him as if he’d grown two heads. Renjun? Smiling? Not being intimidating?

Last and the weirdest of all, Donghyuck caught Renjun disoriented a few times. He had seen the producer spacing out, staring into nothing on random occasions. Renjun had also tripped, spilled his drink, and forgot some of his own deadlines.

It was not that Renjun was sick in terms of health, but he might be sick in the head, Donghyuck supposed. What else could explain the producer’s recent behavior?

Another thing that bothered the DJ was the frequent appearance of this stranger alpha. Renjun’s alpha friend. “Boyfriend,” Donghyuck could hear Jaemin correct him.

The stranger alpha had been showing up every after their live broadcast ended, picking Renjun up to drop him off, Donghyuck overheard him one time. There were times the stranger even stayed throughout the program, making friends with everyone in the team, much to Donghyuck’s annoyance.

It made sense that he was Renjun’s boyfriend. However, Donghyuck could not bring himself to accept such a fact, even more when he witnessed the PD getting too clingy at the stranger.

Just what was up with Renjun these days?

⇢✴⇠

The most, ___most___ confusing thing happened on a Wednesday night.

Donghyuck went on with his usual programming; he dropped by Jaemin’s cafe for a quick chat and a cup of coffee and he arrived at the studio on time. He had a few minutes to spare, thus he chatted with his coworkers. Apparently, Joy was dating Seulgi[VM2] , the omega gushing over her beta girlfriend all throughout their conversation.

“Have you guys seen our PD?”

Their talk was interrupted by Jisung, panting, looking like he’d run a whole marathon. He had an arm propped on the door frame after leaving it ajar, leaning his tired body on the concrete.

Joy shrugged. “I haven’t seen him today, maybe he’s absent?”

“That doesn’t make sense. The interns are here. The interns. He specifically ordered them to come tonight to get an overview of radio production. Where is he?” Jisung argued, panicking.

Donghyuck frowned at that. Renjun was never absent. And more importantly, Renjun only had three go-to spots in the building and if Joy claimed no sight of the producer today, that meant he did not hole himself in his office.

“I might know where he is,” Donghyuck claimed, standing up.

“Where?” Jisung asked. He straightened his stance preparing for another search.

The DJ shook his head and patted the younger’s shoulder. “Go get some rest here. I’ll look for him instead.”

Much to his luck, an elevator just landed on their floor. He immediately boarded the lift and pressed the floor where he believed Renjun might be. As soon as the door opened, he sprinted towards his destination in mind.

On the way there, he could not help but let his thoughts wander. What could be the reason for Renjun’s sudden change of behavior? Was it because of stress? Was he experiencing some personal problems?

He stopped in front of the glass door. There outside was the missing producer, sat on the bench and body curled like a ball. Donghyuck could not help but release a sigh of relief; at least Renjun was safe and present to work.

Opening the door gently, Donghyuck tried to be silent with his steps. However, Renjun sensed him right away, body tensing as his mouth mumbled a soft “Donghyuck”, making said man halt his approach.

“What are you doing here?” Renjun asked with what was supposed to be a stern voice but failed, surprisingly so — his remark falling close to a tender whisper.

Donghyuck, still remained on his spot, cleared his throat. “Jisung’s looking for you... something to do with the interns.”

At the mention of interns, the smaller launched himself upright, whimpering as he did so.

“Renjun, are you alright?”

Donghyuck’s reflexes kicked in despite his brain telling him to stay rooted. He quickly went to the other alpha’s aid, eyes focused on him, searching for any possible pain points.

“I’m fine,” Renjun growled, clutching his stomach. “Don’t mind me and don’t you ever tell anyone what you saw here.”

Body frozen from Renjun’s outburst, Donghyuck found himself nodding to the order. His brows were perched up, still trying to assess the situation by sensing the pheromones around.

Since they were outdoors, the diffuser wouldn’t tamper their smell. Donghyuck could tell Renjun’s state from the pheromones he was letting out. That is, if he wasn’t suppressing it like always.

Renjun glared at him before squandering towards the exit.

As he did, Donghyuck’s nose scrunched at the onslaught of a foreign smell. There was a waft of lilies and honeysuckle, so strong that when he licked his lips, seemingly able to taste them too. It was sweet, very sweet.

An omega’s scent.

The scent of an omega in heat.

That couldn’t be Renjun’s, right? He was an alpha.

⇢✴⇠

Donghyuck looked up, where stars should have been littering the sky, but instead all he saw was darkness. Seoul's sky was definitely not the best, thanks to the numerous vehicular and industrial emissions that further magnified the pollution of the city, which in turn led to the drastic climate change. It’s supposed to be a chilly autumn night, but it was humid. Ah, global warming.

Maybe Donghyuck had too much to drink.

He couldn’t recall when he started drinking, what he was even drinking, and how many cans he had already emptied. He squinted at the can on his hand, trying to make out if he’s drinking a soda or a beer.

He failed. He couldn’t read it. Oh god, he couldn’t read. How would he do his radio if he was blind?

Ah, the radio.

Huang Renjun.

That man was an alpha, right? Right? He said so himself. He acted like so. He was feared because of his alpha dominance. Therefore, he was an alpha.

That’s it. End of story.

No, it was not the end.

Donghyuck grunted, his hand crushing the poor can on the plastic table. He pressed his lips and pulled his hair, mumbling expletives as he did.

He did not want to believe what his alpha had been telling him for the past few hours. His alpha was convinced that Renjun was an omega from the intoxicating smell he let out when he passed by him.

Of lilies and honeysuckle. So sweet. So alluring.

Renjun was in heat.

“Fuck,” he hissed. The thought of the producer being an omega after all was sending Donghyuck’s brain into frenzy. There’s a pooling warm tightness on his abdomen, sending shrills up his body.

“Huang Renjun, you son of a bitch.”

⇢✴⇠

“Where’s Renjun?”

Donghyuck asked as he passed by the office, seeing an empty and tidy desk. Neo Station only had one huge office that was shared by teams of different programs. Two rows of cubicles were allotted for each team, with their PD in the middle of the farthest desk. That was Renjun’s number one spot.

“PD took a rut break. Didn’t you read the announcement on the group chat?” Mingyu, who’s seated comfortably, playing some candy game on his desktop, answered.

“Oh, I see.”

⇢✴⇠

Later that night, he slumped on his bed, having taken a refreshing shower as soon as he got home. The sheets were a bit old — Donghyuck made a mental note to change them tomorrow — nevertheless, he still snuggled his favorite bolster and sighed. He badly craved a rest lately. Thank heavens it was Friday; he did not have any radio on weekends, meaning he could sleep in and play all day tomorrow.

He turned to his side and grabbed his phone from the bedside table. Scrolling through his social media, he thought of checking his messages.

Donghyuck was not a frequent visitor of his inbox. He’d open it from time to time, but only when he remembered to do so, which was... not as often as his friends would like.

Thus, he wasn't surprised to see a bunch of unread messages.

He opened Jaemin’s first; his friend was just ranting about some rude customers as usual. He typed out a quick reply, something along the lines of “sucks for you lol”.

His mother surprisingly sent him a message, asking how he was doing and where in the world they are touring right now. “I’m doing well,” he replied and attached a random picture of himself because his parents were not the type to follow his updates on social media.

The third and most likely the last message he’d check today was their team’s group chat. As soon as he clicked it, he was overwhelmed with the barrage of texts. Of Renjun. The PD sent texts for each of them, reminding them of their tasks and deadlines. He also gave a lengthy message to the whole team in which he apologized for his sudden leave of absence, citing that he forgot to note his rut schedule, and motivated them to do their jobs well, without his guidance.

“This was truly unprofessional of me. Let it be known that this would be the first and last time I’d be absent without preparations and because of my second-gender,” Donghyuck read aloud, raising his brow.

Is Renjun really having a ___rut___ break?

Donghyuck’s curiosity led him to the homepage of Naver. He hovered on the search bar and typed; lips pressed as he did.

“Can alphas experience heat?”

That was a dumb question. He knew full well that it was impossible; alphas were to rut as to omegas were to heat. It didn’t hurt to try though; there may be outliers. Like Renjun.

Seeing as the feed did not give plausible articles about alphas experiencing heat (only one measly essay posted on a sketchy forum, something about an alpha getting so wet down there, which was then debunked and proven as just an alpha using too much lube), Donghyuck exited the search page.

Biting his lips, he tried composing a query again.

“Omega heat symptoms”

Now, this, to many, might seem like another stupid question. Sex Ed was an integral part of their high school class, thus something as basic as heats and ruts were already learned years ago.

Donghyuck just wanted to be sure.

As the page showed the results, he opened the first website on the list. The site explored all the things related to omegas and their heat—its history, symptoms, cure, and important things to take note. Apart from the history, the rest was already known facts to Donghyuck.

An omega’s pheromones became more pungent as they underwent heat; their naturally sweet-smelling fragrance would even be sweeter. Symptoms such as abdominal pain, slick production, and cloudiness varied from one omega to another, but these were the three basic symptoms.

It seemed like another fruitless attempt. Donghyuck was about to close the page and just turn in for the night, when his eyes skimmed over an interesting part below the article.

“Omegas in heat can seek the aid of suppressants should they decide not to let any alpha help them get through their heat.”

That’s interesting. He knew about the existence of medicine to lessen the intensity of their ruts, but he was unaware that it could also work for omegas. Wanting to know more, he clicked on the related article below.

“Suppressants 101,” he muttered the title and scrolled expectantly on the page.

Indeed, suppressants serve as medicine, especially for unmated people to lessen the pain of their heat or rut if they do not want to seek help from the opposite gender. Donghyuck nodded along the familiar piece of information; he used to take in suppressants before he sought the help of Jaemin, which established their short arrangement to assist each other’s cycle — if they were single at that time.

“However, the advancement in medicine now provides this to those who want to mute their second gender assignment,” Donghyuck whispered, reading through the new information provided by the article.

Huh, they could do that too, Donghyuck questioned.

“These are taken in high dosages, thus further enhancing the side-effects such as crankiness, mood swings, headache, and worst, fertility problems. Miss one day and you’ll pay for its price as it goes two-fold.”

An idea flashed on Donghyuck’s mind. He gasped, eyes wide at his latest discovery.

In a haste, he closed the tab and dialed a favorite contact. It took five rings before the other line connected.

“Why the fuck are you calling at this late hour?” The other complained as soon as he answered the call.

“Jaemin!”

“What. This better be important, you’re ruining my sleeping ritual.”

Donghyuck didn’t have time to humor his best friend’s grumbles. His hands clasped the phone tightly and he immediately went straight to the point.

“What happens to omegas who take high dosage of suppressants every day?”

There’s silence on the other line, apart from the constant whirring of the air conditioner. Donghyuck waited patiently, taking deep, even breaths.

“They don’t smell like shit. You can’t smell their pheromones, nobody will. They’re muted,” Jaemin answered, obviously confused at the random question. “But what is this for?”

Donghyuck ignored the question and asked, “so if, hypothetically, they go into heat what would happen then?”

“I really don’t know where you’re going with this, but I’ll answer anyway because I want to end this call already,” Jaemin groused. “If they’re on high dosage suppressants then their heat wouldn’t come as hard. Sometimes they don’t even come at all. That’s unhealthy though, I remembered taking it once and experiencing a whiplash once I stopped.”

“What happens when you stop?”

“Uh, like even one day of stopping could cause some to go into full heat right away.”

Donghyuck gawked at Jaemin’s response. The gears in his head were turning.

“Thanks, Jaem! I love you good night sleep well!” He rushed to end the call, cutting off Jaemin’s nagging.

Rolling on the bed, he stopped and laid on his back, staring at the ceiling. Fully taking in all the information he had gathered tonight and connecting it with his past observations.

“Oh god,” He gasped, concluding the thoughts in his head. “Renjun’s an omega.”

⇢✴⇠

“Ha, shit.”

Donghyuck moved closer, hands traversing the omega’s body.

It was hot, too hot.

The suffocating feeling made him rip off his clothes, doing the same to the man in front of him. As soon as they were half-naked, Donghyuck did not waste any more time and lunged towards the omega’s neck, the latter leaning backwards, fully baring his neck to the alpha.

Donghyuck began littering kisses on the smaller’s neck, biting, and creating marks that would turn purple for everyone in the studio to see. He specifically took a longer time kissing the juncture between the omega’s neck and shoulders, where his scent was more prominent, drugging the alpha more.

“Mark me, alpha, please,” the omega whimpered, squeezing his thighs at the sensation. He’s wet, slick leaking continuously, ruining his briefs.

Donghyuck groaned at the plea, sucking a huge bruise on the omega’s neck. The latter keened, liking it, wanting more.

“You’re so wet princess, you like it that much huh?”

His hands groped the omega’s ass, a damp patch on the area of his hole. His tongue was busy flicking the nubs of the omega, glistening it with his spit.

The omega got a hold of his senses and quickly opened his jeans, pushing them off.

“Impatient, aren’t we?” Donghyuck grinned, snaking one of his hands towards the omega’s drenched hole, thumb circling the rim.

The omega moaned, more globs of slick coming out from his hole.

“Fuck me, Donghyuck.”

The alpha looked up from kneeling and mouthing the omega’s cock. So fucking beautiful, he was.

“Oh I would love to ruin you, Renjun.”

Renjun.

Renjun.

“Holy shit!” Donghyuck jolted awake, screaming as he sat up on his bed.

He just dreamed of Renjun. Under him. ___Again___.

Groaning, he pulled his hair, ruffling it and taking out his frustrations on his poor hair. It had been the third straight night since his recent discovery; he’d been having constant lewd dreams involving Renjun.

Renjun.

His omega producer.

His cock twitched at the thought. “Fucking hell,” he hissed. His cock was thick and very much hard, aroused from his vivid dream.

He stood up and went to the bathroom, willing his erection away by slapping himself with cold water. He’d rather die from blue balls than jerk off from the thought of his producer, all spread out in front of him.

“Shit”

Just how would Donghyuck survive this?

⇢✴⇠

Donghyuck could not.

Renjun came back a couple days ago, all ready for work and back to his usual crankiness. It seemed like everything was normal.

Except it wasn’t.

Not anymore, Donghyuck deliberated.

He was just floating; he hadn't had a good sleep for probably a week now. He felt like he had unearthed one of the universe’s hidden treasures, it could compare to how scientists discovered how humans function, how the world turns, why things exist. It sounded ridiculous, admittedly, and that was how he felt too.

Crazy.

“Dude, are you alright?” Jisung asked, concerned.

Donghyuck glanced at him and emitted a confused sound. Jisung told him he just groaned aloud, seeming to be in pain.

“I’m fine, just have things on my mind,” he replied, shrugging and patting Jisung’s head. The young beta was so pure and kind, Donghyuck felt enamored.

He looked up to see that everyone was busy chattering on their own groups. The broadcast already ended a few minutes ago, yet Renjun summoned them in their office, no reasons given apart from “stay put and free yourselves for the night.”

Speaking of the producer, he came back holding a file, giddy on his steps but his face as blank as possible. His mere presence alerted everyone, sitting up straight, eyes on him.

“Everyone, I gathered you here because I have to announce something,” he started, lips pressed into a thin line, making everyone on the edge of their seats.

“Kun told me this and I... can’t believe I’m saying, wow: we made it to the top 1 of the Neo programs this month! Congratulations!”

There were hoots and jeers from everyone. Some were hugging each other, jumping, elated from the news. They had long waited for this; it had been their number one goal ever since they first met up for the program. To be charted at the top of Neo Station, the highly recognized radio station that houses amazing programs. All these when their program was only a few months old.

“As a way of thanks, how about a late-night dinner? Everything’s on me!” Renjun exclaimed, beaming.

They went to the samgyupsal restaurant a few blocks close to their building; the owner was an old woman whom they lovingly called their aunt due to the regular dinners in this resto.

“Wow, you brought the whole company today, Seungkwan!” The aunt said, surprised at the people entering her store, each making themselves comfortable on the farthest tables—their self-assigned spot as Mingyu declared.

The marketing employee greeted their aunt with much excitement, proudly sharing their biggest achievement, much to the aunt’s delight.

“Oh my, well done kids! I’m going to give you guys good pieces of meat and some extra sides!”

Their dinner was loud, even louder when they started ordering alcohol along the way. The aunt handed them a case of soju bottles, insisting that they need to celebrate hard for a well-deserved achievement. Everyone looked at Renjun as if they were kids asking for permission.

The said alpha chuckled, nodded, and raised a shot of soju, which encouraged everyone to raise their own. “To more success in the future!”

There were shots, cheers, and many more shots.

Pretty soon the case was almost cleared, save for a handful of bottles. They’d been partying all out, playing drinking games hosted by Seungkwan and Mingyu, their ever so lively and loud teammates. To everyone’s surprise, Renjun lost most of it, the alpha downing shots after shots as a consequence.

“I need a smoke,” Renjun announced, getting up and heading to the doors. Nobody minded him, either too drunk to care or too preoccupied with their ingroup chatter.

Donghyuck stared at the retreating back of the producer, who was walking a bit groggily. Standing up, he grabbed his phone and followed him. A smoke would be nice. It always helped ease his hangover the next day.

“Have another stick with you?”

Donghyuck stood close to Renjun, who tried to hide his shock from the alpha suddenly creeping out so suddenly. The producer frisked his jean pocket for his pack and gave one to the DJ and offered his lighter as well, Donghyuck mumbling a quiet “thanks” as he lit the cig.

“Congratulations, Mr. PD. We wouldn’t be able to reach it without you,” Donghyuck said, breaking the silence.

Renjun scoffed, shaking his head. “Congrats to ___you___ , Mr. SunD. We got listeners because of you, please.”

“Congratulations to the both of us then,” Donghyuck concluded, smirking. Foot playing with the small rocks from the broken pavement, he felt liquid courage surge through his veins.

“Say Renjun, how come I still don’t smell you here?”

Renjun turned to look at him and squinted his eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I understand if I can’t smell you in the office because of the diffusers, but here? Outside where it’s just the two of us, I don’t understand.” Donghyuck shrugged nonchalantly as if he's talking about the weather.

Renjun hiccupped, dropping his finished stick on the ground, stepping on it, and killing its fire. “I do use suppressants. I don’t want those nasty pheromones getting in the way.”

Donghyuck nodded, already knowing such information. He took a slow drag of his cig, inhaling a lungful, letting it stay for a while before exhaling it. Long drags were always the best; it felt even more calming.

“I was able to smell you though. One time,” he began, lips pulling into a grin as he recollected the memory that literally broke him. “Remember that time you went missing and I found you at the veranda? I might have gotten a waft of your scent then.”

That caught Renjun’s full attention. Though inebriated, he could still understand conversations, especially the one he was having right now with Donghyuck. He turned his body to completely face the DJ and crossed his arms, feigning confusion.

“What are you trying to imply here?”

“You’re not as discreet as you think you are, Renjun. Dare I say, you’ve done a pretty awesome job for acting like an alpha. I, myself, was kinda intimidated.”

Renjun’s eyes widened, his jaw dropped; he’s like a deer caught in the headlights. He took a step back, away from the seemingly threatening alpha beside him. Finding his poise, he sneered, denying the allegation.

“I’m n-not—”

Before he even finished his renunciation, his back met the cold hard wall of the restaurant; Donghyuck walked closer and closer, he took a step farther and farther, overwhelmed.

“You’re not?” Donghyuck asked, leaning into Renjun’s personal space, approaching his neck and inhaling largely. He almost growled at the alluring scent. “You’re suppressants cannot fully cover you especially after heat, you know.”

Renjun took a sharp breath, legs weakening. The alpha was too close, and he could also smell him. Dried sandalwood with a dust of amber captivated his senses and made him dizzy.

“Cat got your tongue, omega?”

Renjun swallowed a whimper, surprised at the way his omega was purring at the attention given by Donghyuck. Being called an ___omega___ should feel degrading, his secret exposed, yet it felt good. He wanted to hear it again. More.

Nonetheless before his senses fully succumbed to the sensation, he grunted and put his hands on the alpha’s chest, pushing it weakly. He could hear the man snigger at his lame attempt.

“’I’m not drunk! Let’s go another round!”

The shout of a familiar voice alerted them of their place, seeing their position, they scrambled away from each other, acting as if they’re still smoking peacefully.

“Oh, PD Renjun! SunD! Wanna join us? We’re going to bounce to a karaoke nearby.”

At the mention of his name, Donghyuck turned to the commotion and saw their team heading out. He took a quick glance at Renjun, who was visibly flushed and dazed, and grinned apologetically to the crowd.

“I’m gonna pass. I’m already sleepy and Renjun looks out of it, I need to help him home.”

Donghyuck and Renjun were not that close enough to give rides to each other, but everyone was probably too drunk to mind them, shrugging and moving along the streets.

Once they were out, he went to check on the omega. “Are you alright? I’m going to give you a ride home.”

Renjun shook his head and inched closer to him; Donghyuck’s breath hitched. The omega took it as an opportunity to ghost his lips on his jaw, his hands wandering on the alpha’s chest. At this point, both of them were both clouded by alcohol; sanity already thrown off the window. Donghyuck grunted and held Renjun’s waist, making space between them, allowing them to have room to breathe. The omega looked blown; his eyes dark and cheeks deep red, but not from inebriation. Licking his lips, he locked gazes with Donghyuck and whispered:

“Take me home with you, Hyuck.”

⇢✴⇠

They didn’t even reach the door.

Renjun already took advantage of Donghyuck being preoccupied with pressing numbers to unlock his apartment, mouthing at the alpha’s neck and wetting it with his tongue. Donghyuck groaned, pressing his back further into the omega’s hips, whose hands were looped around his body.

A ping and the door unlocked. He pulled the smaller inside, pinning him against the door and diving in. Lips locked, hungry. They’d been starving for so long. Donghyuck bit Renjun’s lips, eliciting a gasp from the omega, parting his lips for the alpha to fully enter and ravish his mouth.

Their hands wandered. Donghyuck mapped his hands southwards, squeezing Renjun’s ass and earning a moan from the latter, who wrapped his hands around the alpha’s brown hair.

“Fuck you’re already so wet.” Donghyuck cupped the ass, fingers roaming underneath, feeling the dampness of Renjun’s jeans. “Such a slut huh? You like getting railed by an alpha after all.”

Renjun grunted and slotted his thigh between Donghyuck’s. The friction on his cock was sweet, making him cry, wanting to grind further, more, more.

“Let’s go to bed,” Donghyuck said before lifting him with ease. His legs around the alpha’s waist created a good sensation, so he whimpered, grinding as much as he could from the tight grip on him.

Donghyuck laid Renjun carefully on the bed and moved a few spaces back, even though he already wanted to devour the gorgeous omega on his bed. It had been quite a while since he had someone, let alone an omega, come over for sex.

“What do you want, Renjun?”

“You,” the omega replied in a haste, looking at him from his lashes, dazed and looking absolutely beautiful.

Donghyuck kneeled on the end of the bed where Renjun’s feet were. He never tore his gaze from Renjun, how could he when the omega looked very sinful?

“Final question baby, do you really want this? You can back out, you know.”

Renjun shook his head, sitting up and removing his top. He propped in front of him, getting up on his knees as well. “I’ve wanted this, alpha.”

That was it.

The name coming from Renjun’s lips was the last straw. Donghyuck rid himself of his clothes, leaving only his boxers on. He pressed closer to Renjun, enveloping him into another heated kiss, setting him again on his back.

He left Renjun’s lips to trail kisses along his jaw, neck, and shoulders. There was a loud gasp once Donghyuck sucked his neck — not enough to leave a mark but close, very close to where his pheromones were the strongest.

“You smell so good. Made me insane when you went into heat in front of me, god,” Donghyuck murmured, moving down until his lips met Renjun’s erect nubs. He gave one a tentative lick.

“F-fuck.”

Renjun’s response was a green light. Donghyuck swallowed his nipple, alternating between licking and sucking, while playing with the other nub with his fingers. He opened his eyes and saw Renjun, eyes shut and mouth open, panting.

This further encouraged Donghyuck, whose unoccupied hand was already snaking towards the omega’s jeans, unbuttoning them with ease. Renjun got the message and lifted his hips, hands helping get the last two offending pieces of fabric off his body.

With the producer now fully naked, Donghyuck’s hands wandered to his cock, finding it quite small and already hard, precum oozing at the slit. Renjun whimpered as his cock got played with.

The alpha let go of his nipples to take a good look at Renjun who already looked ravished, black hair matted on his forehead because of sweat and upper body marked up with bruises.

“Look at you. You’re so fucking beautiful, Renjun. You drive me crazy.”

Renjun moaned as a response, lifting his hips to make Donghyuck notice his want. The latter chuckled, groping his cock, squeezing and stroking it.

“Wanna eat you out but I can’t wait to get inside you, baby.”

Forgoing the want to get a taste of the omega’s slick, he tapped Renjun’s thighs which widened upon order, bending his knees to grant more access.

From this view, Donghyuck could see Renjun’s hole, glistening from the globs of slick continuously coming out. He licked his lips and let his fingers trail Renjun’s inner thighs up to his cock then down to his hole.

A finger prodded Renjun’s hole, making him whine from the stimulation. Because he was already so, ___so___ wet, the finger went inside his tight hole smoothly.

Donghyuck thrusted the finger in and out slowly and carefully. A few seconds after, he introduced another digit, getting a groan from Renjun at the intrusion. He thrusted non rhythmically, only wanting to stretch the omega’s hole to prepare it for his length.

Soon, two fingers turned into three and Renjun became a whining mess under him, squirming and urging him to fuck him already.

“So impatient. Can’t wait to have an alpha cock inside you? Such a slut.”

Throwing his boxers onto the floor to join the rest of their clothes, he grabbed his cock, rock hard from being neglected. He gave it a few tugs before crawling closer to Renjun and placing a pillow under his hips. Once settled, he directed the head of his cock to the omega’s rim, very wet and gaping from the foreplay.

“Oh s-shit,” Renjun cried, panting as the length gradually slid inside him.

With the help of his slick, it didn’t take long until Donghyuck’s cock fully entered his hole, the glide smooth and easy.

“F- ah, so big. So big inside me,” he moaned, feeling his hole accommodate the whole length of the alpha. “Fuck me now p-please.”

At Renjun’s plea, Donghyuck started thrusting, pushing in and out slowly at first due to the tightness of the PD’s hole. Soon after, the pace fastened, hips slamming his cock deeper into the warm and wet cavern.

Renjun was feeling delirious, gripping the sheets and mouthing curses and Donghyuck’s name. He opened his eyes and locked gazes with the alpha, biting his lip before letting out a scream.

“More, more, fuck please!”

Donghyuck moved on autopilot. His hips rammed Renjun with a brutalizing force, and he leered at every sound coming from the other.

Sensing his incoming orgasm, he halted his actions, causing Renjun to whine aloud. “Turn around. Hands and knees,” he ordered. The omega obeyed and situated himself on elbows and knees, head resting on the bed.

Donghyuck pushed his cock in again and thrusted quickly. Through this new position, he was able to hit new angles, making Renjun shout once the cock pressed the bundle of nerves inside him.

“C-close, Donghyuck. I’m gonna cum,” Renjun wailed, the incessant pressure on his prostate sending him nearly into orgasm.

Donghyuck panted and snaked his hand on Renjun’s front, stroking his cock. “Cum for me baby.”

Toes curling and fingers pulling his own hair, Renjun came, streaks of white tainting the black sheets of Donghyuck’s bed. The alpha grunted, feeling Renjuns’s hole tighten as he released.

Renjun dropped his whole body on the bed after he finished, lifting only his ass with the other’s cock still inside of him. Feeling it become thicker than before, he turned his head around to try to look at the man behind him.

“Knot me, alpha. Come inside, please.”

Donghyuck growled, moving his cock again in full force. “Fuck, of course you want my knot, omega. Want an alpha to lock your hole with his thick cock and fill you with his cum, huh? You want that?”

The omega cried, thrashing on the bed from oversensitivity. “Y-yes, g-give it to me.”

He felt the knot starting to swell, his rim catching the bulbous bulge. Moaning, he urged Donghyuck to come and knot him.

“Ah!” Renjun whined wantonly, feeling his hole sheath the knot inside.

Unable to thrust anymore, Donghyuck grinded, chasing his own release and painting the omega’s hole with thick globs of his cum.

Recovering from his high, he dropped his weight on top of Renjun, who could only grunt as a reply. The two, spent from the rigorous fucking, fell into slumber quickly.

The sunlight creeped through the wide windows, casting a golden glow to the room; its brightness brought warmth to the atmosphere.

Donghyuck felt hot.

He pushed away the thick blanket from his body. Sticky, he was very sticky. He groaned and hesitantly opened his eyes, squinting from the sudden light assaulting his vision. Trying to regain his consciousness, he sat upright as memories started flooding back to him.

“What the fuck?” he mumbled, looking across the room for some evidence.

Lying on the ground were no strewn clothes. Donghyuck, confused, tilted his head towards the bedside table and saw his clothes from yesterday folded neatly together next to his phone. He grabbed it and unlocked, seeing the time being ten in the morning. There were no other notifications, he must have turned his mobile data off last night. He opened it and prepared himself for any message coming from ___him___ but there was none.

Donghyuck sighed. Looking at the empty and cold side of the bed forlornly, he got off and headed to the bathroom. A shower would refresh him and his thoughts.

Stepping into the stall, he hissed as the hot water hit his skin. He begrudgingly washed away all the remnants of last night—the lingering stench of samgyupsal and smoke, the awful remains of dried alcohol, sweat, and cum. While cleaning up, he could not help but let his thoughts wander.

Renjun was indeed an omega and they had fucked.

“Oh god,” Donghyuck cried, thinking about the sex. It was good, god it was amazing. Renjun was a putty in his hands, his hole felt warm and tight and ___perfect___ to his cock. He had let him knot inside, spilling all his cum.

One of his hands gripped his already throbbing cock, stroking it eagerly. His promise of not jacking off to the thought of his producer was thrown out the window. How could he not touch himself when he had already seen the subject of his wet dreams getting fucked in person?

He felt his abdomen twist, the feeling of coming nearing. Stroking his cock hard and fast, he grunted as he felt close. With a moan, he came, releasing white spurts onto the bathroom tiles and watching it get washed away by the already cold water from the shower.

“Fucking hell.”

How would Donghyuck face Renjun now?

⇢✴⇠

Turns out it wouldn’t be a problem.

Renjun was clearly avoiding him.

Donghyuck was sure about this. The moment he stepped foot in the building, he spotted Renjun in the lobby, waiting for an elevator to arrive. He walked towards him and hoped to at least have a small talk, a refresher from their weekend shenanigans. Their eyes met as he scanned his ID on the entrance.

Renjun’s eyes widened and just his luck, a vacant elevator opened. He quickly got inside, not minding the people who were exiting the lift. When Donghyuck reached said lift, its doors were closed. He could feel Renjun breathe a sigh of relief.

Perplexed, Donghyuck shrugged it off. Maybe the producer was just late and in a hurry to get back to his desk, he tried to reason even though he knew the omega was never late for work. Well, except during his pre-heat.

God, okay. Don’t think of that.

He reached the office after taking the next lift. Walking across their team’s workspaces, he thanked everyone who came to congratulate him and his team for their feat. Truthfully, Donghyuck kind of forgot the reason for their greeting; the night of Friday was tampered by alcohol... and well, Renjun.

Getting attention from everyone in the station felt overwhelming. He was beyond happy, of course, though he did not expect to reach such high acknowledgement in his rookie year. He just got this job from Jeno’s recommendation... Wow, maybe he should treat Jeno to dinner someday. He owed the man so much—from saving his rent, his finances, to many more.

“Hey, sunshine.”

Donghyuck turned his attention to Joy who saw him walking towards them. He really did not need to be in the office like they did, only for occasional visits, meetings, or added inputs he’d contribute. He was just needed at least an hour before his broadcast. But where was the fun in that? Donghyuck argued, wanting to loiter around and chat with his coworkers. Jaemin was proving to be a very boring company lately, busy with managing his business and just annoying him with usual baseless love theories.

(“I know you have a crush,” Jaemin said at one point, wiggling his eyebrows and smiling menacingly.

Donghyuck frowned. “No, I don’t.”

Jaemin slurped his americano and crossed his legs. He gave his friend a knowing look. “Denial is a coping mechanism, my love.”)

“What’s up?” Donghyuck grinned, leaning with his arms crossed on the partition wall. The rest were working leisurely, he saw Jisung on the other table switch tabs from pinball to the worksheet he was tasked to finish.

Joy sighed, resting her back on the office chair, and retold some stories she could remember from their night out. After leaving Donghyuck and Renjun at the restaurant, they went to the nearby karaoke room. Seungkwan and Mingyu hoarded the microphones while Yooa kept on drinking, and Jisung slept.

“What about you?” He asked, noticing that the scriptwriter hadn’t told about herself.

“Oh,” Joy giggled, a hand covering her mouth. “So Seulgi came sometime after... I guess I texted her my whereabouts. Anyways, we just kinda... made out until our time expired.”

Donghyuck faked a gag which made Joy snicker even more. To actually have a couple in the same company... he knew it was more likely, but he hadn’t thought his coworkers would be the ones dating.

How did it feel dating a colleague? He wondered.

“I mean it’s fun because I can see her around and we can go home at the same time, have dinner, and all that cute couple shit,” Joy replied. Apparently, he had pondered aloud.

He nodded along, chatting with her more about random office gossip. While having a heated debate on whether long-distance relationships were successful or not, Donghyuck tiptoed and subtly peeked at the farthest, middle desk. There he saw Renjun furiously typing, eyes focused on the computer screen.

“Hold on, I need to ask Renjun something.”

He walked towards Renjun’s desk, hoping to ask him about ___it___ , however, before he even uttered a single word, the producer jumped from his seat and rushed out, claiming that he had an important call to attend.

Dumbfounded, Donghyuck turned around and went back to Joy. “Anyways, where were we again?”

⇢✴⇠

“In relationships, fighting is inevitable. At some point, you and your partner would argue about something, small or big. The important thing here is how we act during and after the argument. Everything can be solved by communication.” Donghyuck looked at the glass window, seeing the producer ramble instructions to Jisung. He chuckled inwardly before continuing his ending spiel.

“Hey there lovesick listeners, the clock’s about to strike ten. Sad as it is, I have to bid goodbye for now. This has been SunD of Love Corner and you’re tuned in at the nation’s hottest, Neo FM. Before I part, here’s Khalid with ‘Talk’. Just talk it out fellas, good night.”

As he finished his last comment, the vocals of the American singer reverberated through the radio lines. Donghyuck sighed. Another day done. Another day of Renjun ignoring him.

It wasn't that Renjun acted as if the alpha was invisible; he just tried hard to establish minimal interaction with him. The producer would not directly snub him, rather he would try to act busy, which was relatively easy given that he was indeed a very busy man.

Donghyuck was partly at fault too, he knew this. All of his approaches were just to have a small talk; he figured he’d just skate through the topic once they started talking. He did not know how to open it up. How would they even begin to talk about that night?

Frustrated about the situation, he made up his mind as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. This should end tonight. He needed to know about Renjun’s side of things. He wanted to clear any misunderstandings because after all, they were still coworkers and would still be around each other for a while. He couldn’t bear the cold treatment—not that they were close, but ___still___.

Donghyuck frowned, remembering Joy’s answer to one of his random questions a few days prior. Maybe it was unideal to goof around with your coworker, especially if things went downhill. Like now.

“Good job tonight again! Go back home safely everybody,” Renjun said, closing the browser of their program bulletin.

The rest greeted back and packed up, chatting about their late dinners and plans for tomorrow. Donghyuck watched them leave, waiting for the right timing to approach the producer.

As expected, Renjun was the last to go, but Donghyuck decided to wait for a while and wait until Renjun finally packed up his belongings in their office.

Once the PD headed to the elevators, he deemed it the perfect chance to corner him.

“Renjun, can we talk?” Donghyuck asked cautiously. He went in front of the omega, completely blocking his way, although Renjun could sprint past if he wanted.

He was grateful the omega did not. Instead, he looked up at the alpha’s eyes.

“We have nothing to talk about. Can I go now?”

“Yes, we do. You’re obviously avoiding me and I’m sure it’s because of that night,” Donghyuck argued, exasperated. He just wanted to iron things out and Renjun was being difficult.

At the mention of that night, Renjun’s eyes widened. He scanned the lobby, making sure that nobody overheard the DJ’s protest.

“This is not the best place to talk,” he hissed, grabbing the alpha’s arm and dragging him to an isolated place on the floor.

The spare studio was bare, with no marks of any team using it. It just existed for emergency reasons such as a room repair, and a spare recording room for sudden announcement, infomercial, or advertisement recordings. Given this information, Renjun was sure nobody would come across this place, though he still made sure to lock the door.

“Okay.” Renjun faced the alpha, deciding not to sit on the sofa because this would just be a fast talk anyway. “Start talking.”

Donghyuck pressed his lips and nodded. He pondered for a while, finding the right words to say in hopes to not offend the omega.

“Listen, I’m sorry I was too forward that night and forced you to admit your real identity. I didn’t... it was not my intention? I mean, of course—”

“Donghyuck.”

“Of course, I’ve deduced that you’re an omega from all those signs but then... I just want—”

“Donghyuck,” Renjun called him again, interrupting his blabbering. “Okay, it’s okay.”

The alpha met the other’s eyes, confused. “What do you mean?”

“I...” Renjun averted his gaze and chose to focus on the floor instead. “Don’t apologize for what happened that night b-because I also wanted it.”

The confession made Donghyuck’s breath hitch; he swallowed a nonexistent lump on his throat and bit his lip. The omega in front of him was flushed, head down and hands fidgeting.

He took a step closer, trying to test the boundaries.

“You wanted it?”

Renjun gawked. “No, not like ___that___!” He shook his head, his face even redder. Donghyuck thought he looked so cute.

“Not like what?” Donghyuck chuckled. He gained confidence from the confession and the omega’s denial. “Renjun you need to use your words.”

Said man bit his lip, the teeth scraping, its color turning pink. Donghyuck watched it, eyes fixed on the omega’s mouth, and groaned. He walked a few steps more and invaded Renjun’s personal space before asking:

“Can I kiss you?”

Instead of answering, Renjun dived first, locking his lips with Donghyuck’s. The latter grunted, surprised at the response, and answered just as enthusiastically. He ran his right hand through the omega’s hair, letting it stay on his neck while the other cupped his jaw, tilting his head for better access.

At some point, Renjun broke the kiss, gasping for air. Donghyuck went for his neck and nipped lightly on his jawline and neck. The omega moaned and grasped the alpha’s hair, pulling it as he writhed with the sensations the kisses gave him.

“God,” Donghyuck groaned, littering fleeting kisses on Renjun’s ear and jaw. “I can’t smell you here, but you drive me crazy.”

Renjun whined and slotted his leg in between the alpha’s legs. From here he could feel Donghyuck’s member on his thigh; it was big but not yet hard, and just like what he remembered from that night. That made him moan aloud, grinding his cock against the alpha’s stiff thighs. God, he was already wetting himself, he’s sure, his hole clenching and unclenching, releasing slick as he became more and more aroused.

Donghyuck groaned. “So needy for me, baby. Wanna suck you off.”

He didn’t waste any more time and dropped onto his knees. Being eye to eye level with Renjun’s crotch incredibly stimulated his arousal, his own length hardening, squeezed in between his thighs. He inched closer and from this distance, he could smell a faint waft of the omega’s pheromones. It was too strong, too aroused, and he keened, unable to stop himself from nosing at the clothed cock.

He gave a few brief licks, making the omega in front of him gasp. Donghyuck mouthed the forming outline, looking at Renjun’s eyes as he did; his eyes were asking, waiting for the consent.

Renjun nodded furiously and bucked his hips at the sensation. “Please, p-please.”

Donghyuck could not help but smirk at the omega’s begging. He unbuttoned the jeans, sliding down the zipper torturously slow and making Renjun whimper with impatience. Once opened, he hurriedly cupped the covered length in front of him. Renjun moaned.

“F-faster, Donghyuck do it now.”

The alpha scoffed and palmed the omega’s stiff cock. “You’re still as demanding as ever. Keep forgetting that you’re just a slutty omega in disguise as a cold alpha.”

Renjun whimpered at that, totally turned on from the lewd litanies. He gasped as he felt his member get freed from its confines, the air cold despite the air-conditioning being turned off. Staring down below, he could not help but groan as Donghyuck licked the head of his cock while locking eyes with him. The alpha was so sexy, he thought.

Donghyuck drew a hungry lick from the base to the tip, making sure to put pressure on the vein, before engulfing the whole length. There was a sharp intake of breath from Renjun. Hollowing his cheeks, he swallowed the omega’s cock, shallowly at first, to allow his throat to prepare and relax until he was able to reach the hilt.

Renjun thrashed at that. The feeling of Donghyuck’s warm, tight mouth enclosing his cock was insane. He felt like he was in heaven. The alpha moaned, creating vibrations, further sending the omega into a frenzy.

“F-fuck!” Renjun panted, unable to help himself, and gripped both his hands on Donghyuck’s hair, tugging lightly. His hips stuttered; he wanted to fuck into the velvet mouth.

Donghyuck let go, saliva trailing from his mouth, and gasped for breath. A few seconds after, he dived again, bobbing his head leisurely, driving Renjun mad. He looked above him and saw the omega’s face scrunch, his eyes closed, his lips bitten. He gave some taps on the other’s thighs, trying to gain his attention.

Renjun opened his eyes, seeing Donghyuck lick his cock. He raised his brow in question.

“Fuck my mouth,” Donghyuck mumbled and opened his mouth wide, the PD’s cock sitting prettily on his tongue.

Renjun growled and grasped the alpha’s hair, pushing inside the wet cavern hard and fast. Donghyuck gagged a bit from the force but willed himself to relax by squeezing his thumb on his fist.

“God, H-Hyuck ah,” Renjun started, panting while thrusting at a wild pace. “So hot, fuck!”

Wanting to help, Donghyuck played with the omega’s balls and caused the latter to whimper, his orgasm coming near.

“‘m close h-ha,” Renjun cried and felt his abdomen tighten, the pool of arousal so close to breaking.

Donghyuck’s hand travelled behind the omega and squeezed his ass. Inching south until he reached the wet mess, he gathered slick on his fingers and searched for Renjun’s rim—prodding, but not inserting any finger inside.

The feeling on his rim sent Renjun to his climax. Hips stuttering, he screamed and Donghyuck took him, milking him dry and swallowing his cum.

Thank god for soundproof radio booths. With all the whimpers and thrusting, they could have been caught.

Once his head was cleared, Renjun squinted his eyes, seeming to finally be alert of his surroundings. He immediately tucked his cock back inside his briefs and zipped his jeans close. He glanced down to Donghyuck, who was still hazy from arousal. There was a speck of cum beside his lips; Renjun groaned and fought the urge to kiss him and taste himself.

Staring at the alpha’s huge tent in his pants, he asked: “do you want me to return the favor?” He bit his lip and shifted his focus to Donghyuck, who was already looking at him, beaming. “I can suck you off... too.”

The latter chuckled and stood up, knees weak from the long duration of kneeling. Once he’d gained his footing, he stepped closer to Renjun. “No need. I’ll handle this once I go home.” He gave a soft peck to the omega’s lips. “Maybe next time. Don’t avoid me, please.”

Before Renjun could mutter his reply, Donghyuck left the room. The omega remained flustered at the alpha’s directness. He groaned and walked outside, berating himself as he went home.

“Huang Renjun, what did you just get yourself into?”

⇢✴⇠

Well, they both got more of it. The sex. The tension.

It was a given, a no-brainer actually. Put an alpha and an omega together in a team after they’ve fucked ___twice___ , and the result becomes obvious. It’s primal nature, Donghyuck argued; he could not resist the alluring charm of Renjun, even more so whenever he tried so hard to act like an alpha.

It’s sexy, he added. Renjun would assert his dominance over everyone and the people would be on their knees, intimidated and frightened of the producer — it made Donghyuck laugh and groan, the image being too seductive. He would snide at Donghyuck’s playful remarks but end up begging, panting, and crying for more, harder. He was putty under the alpha’s touch and that sent Donghyuck into a frenzy.

Renjun was crazy. He was a drug. The DJ could only conclude as much.

Just like now.

“What are you doing?” Renjun hissed. “During work hours really? What if someone sees!”

Donghyuck dragged the PD once the opportunity came, right after their meeting. He was sure that nobody would look for Renjun for a while given that they would be preoccupied with finishing their meeting deliverables. The restroom they were in was empty; he noticed that only a few pass by this area except those who came from the veranda, tidying themselves after a smoke break.

Donghyuck pulled them inside the farthest stall and crowded Renjun as soon as he locked the door. Nosing the omega’s jaw, he bit his lobe and whispered, “We’re safe here. Though I’m sure you’d like that right? Having someone hear you, actually see you get dumb with a knot inside you huh?”

He heard the other take a sharp inhale, probably imagining the scenario inside his head. Donghyuck could not help but smirk and litter kisses on Renjun’s jaw and neck, downwards to where his scent should have been the strongest. He sniffed hard, able to get a faint whiff of the omega’s pheromones. It was too appetizing, the smell. Like a spell to make him delirious with want.

“You sounded ___so___ seductive during the meeting. Your alpha front made me hard, baby,” Donghyuck muttered. He slotted his leg in between the omega’s and rolled his hips on the plush thighs, showing Renjun his evident arousal. “What should we do about this?”

Renjun, now starting to get clouded and worked up, whimpered. He rocked his hips along the alpha’s, equally eager to get off. Grabbing Donghyuck’s jaw with his hands, he made the alpha face him. They stayed like that, staring into each other’s eyes, before Renjun broke it and dived into the alpha’s mouth.

Kissing Renjun was so easy, so fulfilling. The omega’s plump lips were addictive. The way they would pale once bitten and return pinker as the blood flowed back again was such a delectable sight. Renjun’s mouth, his tongue, the warm cavern was intoxicating. Donghyuck could spend an hour or more just exploring the omega’s sweet cavity.

Donghyuck grunted, his hand finding purchase on the omega’s waist and gripping it tighter. His other hand travelled down and cupped Renjun’s cock, making the other moan in surprise. He stroked it willfully despite the constraint of the cloth material. Resting his head on the alpha’s shoulder, Renjun sobbed as his cock hardened from the continuous stimulation.

“Wanna fuck you here,” Donghyuck groaned as he started to trust his hips as well. The friction sent delicious waves to his cock.

Renjun’s eyes rolled and he tried his best to muffle his cries. They weren’t in their usual empty radio studio, which had become their usual go-to place for a quickie, instead they were in a restroom where anyone could walk in and hear them.

He knew it was wrong. He knew they could be found out and his secret could be blown, but he was so deep into the arousal that from his lips such words fell.

“Go on, fuck me.”

The omega’s reply surprised Donghyuck, who was partly convinced that the producer would just whine and complain about decency. Nevertheless, it made him chuckle — he looked up and met with Renjun’s clouded eyes, touching his cheekbone affectionately.

“You’re so needy. Want an alpha cock so much, huh? I thought you’re an alpha too, Mr. PD,” Donghyuck teased, flicking Renjun’s nipple and making it erect. He nosed the omega’s jaw again and licked his ear, making Renjun’s knees buckle as it sent shivers down his spine.

“Too bad.” Donghyuck’s grin grew wider. “I won’t fuck you here.”

As soon as he said it he immediately let go of Renjun’s cock and created distance between the two of them, leaving the latter winded, aroused, and very much confused.

Renjun whimpered, a cry of protest, before it dawned on him. “What the fuck?”

Donghyuck shrugged and opened the door. He washed his hands and fixed his appearance, putting his stray hair back in place and wiping the sweat off his forehead. Once he deemed himself presentable, he glanced back on Renjun, who was looking at him with fury.

The alpha was glad he did not die from the producer’s hands. He considered going all the way but he knew it would be too much of a risk and he did not want to be the dick that blew Renjun’s cover like that. The studio getaways were already enough; it was discreet, soundproofed, and there was enough thrill of getting found out.

What started as a drunken confrontation about the producer’s real second gender turned into a series of sexual rendezvous. Donghyuck could not recall how it grew into ___this___ but he wasn’t complaining; Renjun wanted this as much, he could see that. Their arrangement wasn't explicitly discussed as they both couldn’t be bothered to do so, but the alpha was already content with this. He could have someone to fuck without going to bars; a perfect release of stress would be sex after all.

No strings attached, just pure carnal desire.

⇢✴⇠

“Where’s your alpha ___friend___?” Donghyuck pried after noticing that the omega had not been going home with the said stranger lately. He omitted saying boyfriend and decided to play it safe instead.

They had just finished another live broadcast and as usual, everybody had left with their own little groups, some going for some drinks with a select few already heading home. Donghyuck slung his coat and shot his arms through its sleeves. The weather was getting colder day by day, summer was on its last waves.

Renjun looked up at the alpha from where he was sitting on his office desk, arranging a few things for tomorrow. He could do this in the morning, he knew, but he just wanted to see it organized before he leaves. “Huh, what do you mean alpha…” He trailed, trying to remember any alpha whom Donghyuck had seen him with. “Ah, Lucas? He’s out of the country for a month, busy with some project.”

Oh, so the alpha was not only intimidating physically, he was also a CEO? Donghyuck inquired. The new information surprised him but he shrugged the odd feeling off and nodded at the producer’s answer. “Oh… I see.”

Once satisfied with his desk, Renjun stood up and grabbed his belongings, choosing to hug his coat rather than wearing it right away. “Why did you ask?”

The DJ replied with a nonchalant: “I just saw you go home with him a lot.” The PD only nodded his head and moved along.

Both of them headed to the lift. Around this time, there were less employees staying in the office, only those who had graveyard slots. Their decision to have their quick fucks usually took place after broadcasting, however, Donghyuck planned something else tonight.

“I’m craving some fried chicken and beer, you up for it?”

The question was random, he knew. They never ate together apart from company dinners and celebrations but he wanted some change of air. And yes, he really was feeling for chicken ever since he saw a mukbang on YouTube.

Renjun raised his brow. “Uh… sure. I can have midnight snacks before I go home.”

Instead of exiting at the lobby, the producer went with Donghyuck down to the basement since the latter’s car was parked there. While on the lift, the DJ asked him why he didn’t own a car when his salary could have afforded it, which made sense actually, but Renjun shrugged.

“I prefer commuting. It’s cheaper and it’s fun to watch people. It also saves the earth! You know your carbon footprint is bigger if you own a car? Plus… I don’t know how to drive.”

Donghyuck pondered and found himself agreeing with the other’s points. He didn’t know Renjun was an eco-conscious; it was interesting to hear him ramble about sustainability and climate change. “The world needs huge companies to make eco-friendly decisions. The blame is always placed on the regular citizens when in fact the majority of the contributors were not us but the factories!”

You do learn new things everyday, Donghyuck thought, quoting an anonymous wise philosopher. In his case, he really learned something new from and about Renjun within the duration of their trip to the chicken place. There were plenty of chicken restaurants around the metro but he wanted to hear from his favorite store. And maybe Renjun’s constant chatter was too entertaining to pass.

Too soon they finally reached the restaurant. It was a bit rugged but it was warm and welcoming, run by a family whom Donghyuck grew to love as he frequented the place during his college days. Living in a dormitory miles away from home was a lonely experience, after all.

“Oh Donghyuck my son! It’s been so long, how have you been?” A woman probably in his middle 50s hugged the DJ as soon as she saw him enter.

Donghyuck returned the embrace, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. “I missed you too auntie. I’m doing well, you? How’s everyone?” He let go of her and scanned the place. It hadn’t really changed at all, save for their fancy signage at the front door. It was as if Donghyuck was back in his college days, coming here with Jaemin whenever he needed a quick pick me up from his studies.

As if she had read his mind, she inquired: “Where’s Jaemin? You always come here with Jaemin and I give you two free sides because you’re too pitiful to watch. Is he working too?” Before he could even reply, she looked over him and saw Renjun standing awkwardly. “Oh! Who’s this young man over here?”

Donghyuck glanced at Renjun, he saw the man smile brightly at his aunt. He looked cute when he wasn’t in the office. He shook the thoughts away and replied. “This is Renjun, my boss. Renjun, this is my auntie, she saved my college ass from dying.”

Renjun giggled at the information and greeted the lady. “Nice to meet you. I’m his colleague.”

The woman greeted the PD warmly as well, tugging him into an embrace, making the latter gasp in surprise. “Well, a friend of Donghyuck is also a son of mine. Come, come, I’m going to serve you the usual.” She led them to the farthest table, which was Donghyuck’s favorite spot. Before leaving them, she did not forget to lock eyes with the alpha and give him a knowing look. Donghyuck, flustered at the elder’s prying, frowned and pouted his lips, pointing it to the kitchen, signalling his aunt to just go much to her amusement.

“Are you okay? Why is your face weird?”

Donghyuck turned to his ___boss___ and schooled his features. “Nothing! I was just trying to remember old memories here.”

“Ah, that’s relatable. I miss my college days too,” Renjun replied, setting himself in front of his ___colleague___.

While waiting for their food, the two talked about their past. Donghyuck shared his club affiliations and his constant clubbing habit with Jaemin and Jeno. Renjun nodded along though he could not help scowling at some points of the story.

“You’re such a social butterfly, no wonder Ten hired you,” Renjun sighed.

Donghyuck chuckled. “My, thank you for the compliment.”

Renjun then babbled about his “peaceful” college life. Apparently, he just focused on studying throughout his four years, aiming hard to finish with strong credentials, which enabled him to land a good job in Neo Station. As Donghyuck predicted, Renjun also belonged to the same batch as him.

“How come you’re already a PD? Isn’t three years too fast?” The alpha could not help but ask the longing question in his mind ever since they first met at the company dinner.

“I’m just that good at my job, I guess,” Renjun replied casually, as if it’s a matter of fact.

Donghyuck scoffed. “So humble of you, Mr. PD,” he remarked sarcastically. The producer smirked and raised his brow. “Though I really cannot refute that, can’t I?” Donghyuck retired.

The owner arrived with their food a few minutes after. They munched on the chicken like starved men and drank beer in between. “As expected, beer is the best partner of fried chicken,” Donghyuck stated, moaning at the scrumptious taste. It hadn’t changed at all.

The rest of the night passed by fast. As they inhaled the meal in front of them, they continued talking, this time about movies, a common interest between them. They argued over which movies are trash and which movies deserved Oscars.

“I still don’t understand why Avatar got so much hype. I’m really not into blue-looking aliens,” Donghyuck mumbled, deboning the wing part with ease.

Renjun gasped rather loudly, seemingly offended. “What!? Are you serious? Don’t you see the cinematic masterpiece that is Avatar? That is like, the best sci-fi ___ever___!”

Their debate over the movie quickly turned into an argument on whether they believe in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. Renjun was earnest in his statements, fully presuming the possibility of such beings living in this world as of the moment. “You could be an alien for all I know,” he cited.

“Excuse me?” Donghyuck asked, appalled at the accusation. “That makes sense though because I have a monster cock, huh?” He sneered and wiggled his brows playfully.

“God! You’re gross! We’re eating right now,” Renjun complained, raising his chicken leg as proof, making the alpha laugh out loud.

Soon they finished the entire bowl of fried chicken and one pack of beer. Blissfully buzzed, both checked out their meal, even fighting at the counter on whose card should get swiped.

“Me! Me! I pay because I'm older!”

“No! I’ll pay because I invited you.” Donghyuck held Renjun’s arm which was holding his card and stretched his arm to offer his own card. “Here auntie, swipe mine.”

As the sound of the computer printing the receipt, Renjun pouted in defeat. “Next time I’ll pay, okay?”

Donghyuck felt something warm inside at the prospect of eating out together again. He cleared his throat and pocketed his wallet. “Let’s go? I’ll just drive you home, the trains are already closed.”

Renjun put off arguing again and walked outside, the sudden breeze of the cool air making him shiver despite his thick coat engulfing him. They climbed inside Donghyuck’s sedan, breathing a sigh of comfort once the alpha revved the engines and the heater opened.

Their trip was long, Renjun lived on the opposite side of Seoul where they came from. Seeing the location on the map, Donghyuck threw his passenger a look. The latter closed his eyes and scooted comfortably on the leather seat. “Don’t give me that look. It’s cheaper there and comparably ___less___ polluted.”

“Okay Mr. Economical.” Donghyuck drove smoothly along the empty highways. It was almost two in the morning already, coming from his car clock, thus the drive was peaceful and fast. Another perk of his job was that it ended at 11 o’clock, when the streets were starting to die down.

Since there was no traffic, they finally reached the destination. Donghyuck pulled over in front of a tall apartelle. It was well lit and looked fairly peaceful — unknowingly, a breath of relief fell from his lips. He turned his attention to Renjun, who was sleeping comfortably beside him. He stared at him for a while, admiring the omega’s features. He’s undeniably pretty, Donghyuck admitted. His pink lips were parted, lightly breathing, and his lashes fanned across his cheeks. Donghyuck hated waking him up but he needed to.

“Renjun, Renjun, wake up.” No response.

“Renjun? We’re here.” This time he gently shook the other’s shoulders. A successful attempt.

“Eugh…” The producer stirred awake, stretching his body and yawning. “Where are we?”

Donghyuck smiled fondly at Renjun’s antics. “We’re in front of your apartment.”

The omega squinted his eyes on the window. “Oh right,” he agreed and grabbed his bag. “Thank you for tonight. I had fun.” He opened the door and was about to alight, but leaned close to Donghyuck first to give him a chaste kiss. “Good night and have a safe trip home.”

Thankfully it was dark because the alpha’s cheeks were on fire. He touched his lips and grinned like a fool. Once he had made sure Renjun entered the elevator safely, he drove away and back home, which was near the chicken restaurant.

⇢✴⇠

“Are you seeing someone?”

Donghyuck snorted the coffee he was sipping, sending himself into a coughing fit. He covered his mouth and willed the surprise to die down. Once recovered, he narrowed his eyes on Jaemin and furrowed his brows. “That’s so out of the blue,” he commented.

Jaemin shrugged and shifted on his seat, crossing his legs and leaning comfortably. “Well, for one I really smell some omega scent on you.”

As soon as Donghyuck entered the cafe and bothered him on the counter — asking him about the different cakes and annoying his poor employees with stupid questions such as ‘how’s Mr. Na as a boss?’ or ‘are you sure you didn’t apply here because of your boss’s handsomeness?’ — Jaemin got a sniff of a subtle scent on his best friend. He was sure it wasn’t a new perfume because omegas and alphas didn’t wear additional fragrance given that they took pride on their own. It definitely wasn't Donghyuck’s scent too; he had known the alpha for such a long time that he had his scent engraved on his nose. The scent was on the sweet side, not citrusy but flowery. Jaemin did not know anyone within their friend group with such a kind of smell, thus his sudden hot seat question.

Donghyuck, seemingly unaware of it, raised his arms and tried to sniff himself. “Really? I can’t smell anything though.”

“Maybe you’re acclimated to it already,” Jaemin explained. He grabbed his own cup and sipped. “Anyway you haven’t answered my question. Should I take that as a yes?”

“N-No! I’m not dating!” Donghyuck replied hastily, his palms up shaking it to support his answer.

The omega grinned. “Okay, if you say so.”

Donghyuck, appalled at his friend’s unconvinced reaction, reiterated: “I swear I’m not! I would’ve told you about it if I am, you know that.”

Jaemin nodded. The alpha was right about that; he was too talkative to let an important update such as dating would pass him. He gazed at the entrance and saw customers coming in and out. Around this time, the crowd was few hence he could entertain his best friend’s annoying chatter every time he dropped by.

“That’s Renjun’s smell though, right?”

The statement made Donghyuck choke on his drink yet again, though this time his surprise came in a form of the americano spraying from his mouth and nose. Gross, Jaemin thought, but he couldn’t help the chuckle escaping his lips.

“Na Jaemin! Please stop dropping huge bombs like that while I’m drinking,” Donghyuck pleaded after cleaning himself up and wiping the table. Said friend just laughed even more and put his palms together, which was his way of apologizing.

“What are you on?” Donghyuck accused.

Jaemin shook his head and cleared his throat after laughing out loud. “I’m right aren’t I?” He asked back.

The way the alpha’s face morphed into confusion, worry, and surprise entertained him. Lee Donghyuck was so easy to trick; countless times he had fallen on his tricks and pranks and his best friend just couldn’t keep up.

“How did… Oh shit,” Donghyuck gasped and slapped his mouth gently, realizing that from his reply he already confirmed his friend’s claim. Unable to turn back now, he inquired. “H-How did you know?”

Jaemin smiled, clasping his hands and laying it on his crossed legs. He had known about it since he’d finally met the infamous producer, the man of Donghyuck’s constant rants. But he wouldn’t tell him that, so instead he muttered:

“I’m an omega. I know my kind.”

⇢✴⇠

The room felt stuffy and hot. Donghyuck laid all his weight on Renjun, too exhausted after coming. It was their second round as well, excluding the foreplay which made them both come; adding those meant Donghyuck was already on his third orgasm. They had come from work and had a midnight snack; Renjun had agreed on coming home with him because it was a Friday.

“Get off you’re heavy,” Renjun grunted and elbowed the alpha’s ribs, the latter feigning hurt. Donghyuck rolled on his side and scooted close to the omega; they were still connected, having just knotted Renjun’s warm hole after the omega had pleaded desperately.

The motion made his cock move inside, poking what must have been Renjun’s prostate judging from the loud mewl he let out. Donghyuck snickered and wrapped his arm along the omega’s waist, his thumb carressing the soft tummy.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

“By the way,” Donghyuck started. “Jaemin knows.”

Renjun turned his head and was immediately met by the alpha’s lips, who snickered softly from his successful attempt. “What do you mean? What does he know?” Multitude of thoughts ran across his brain, but he willed himself to remain composed.

Donghyuck pondered for a while before replying. “He knows your real identity. Something about omegas knowing their kind.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t tell him if that’s what you’re thinking. I know we haven’t talked about it but your secret’s safe with me. I don’t kiss and tell okay I’m—”

Donghyuck was cut off by Renjun who tried his best to turn himself around given the limitations and give him a soft kiss on the mouth. The omega turned to his back again and sighed. “Well, I can’t do anything about that now. It’s okay though, not like he’ll have anything to gain for exposing me… right?”

The pointed uncertainty at the end of Renjun’s reply made the alpha chuckle. He leaned his chin on Renjun’s shoulders and sniffed his neck; the faint scent of his pheromones were addicting.

“You don’t have to worry, I know Jaemin like the back of my hand and he’ll tell no soul. He’s just… too perceptive it’s annoying sometimes.” He reassured the omega and peppered kisses across his nape. Cuddles were always the best post-sex.

Renjun went silent after that. Donghyuck thought the omega had already drifted to sleep, so he closed his eyes as well. Waiting for his knot to shrink in order to clean them up proved to take quite a while. From his observation it would probably be a few minutes more.

“W-What are you and Jaemin?”

He was startled from crossing the dreamland by Renjun’s sudden inquiry. Eyes unopened, he mumbled: “What do you mean? We’re best friends.”

“Just friends? You guys never dated each other? He’s an omega and you’re an alpha after all,” Renjun prodded.

Donghyuck’s eyes lilted. It was a fair point though, Jaemin and he got asked this a lot, thus he replied with ease. “Yeah, just friends. I’ve known him since childhood so he’s like a family to me. Though, he was my first kiss but only because we were curious kids then.” He recalled that moment where young Jaemin randomly asked young him how kissing a person apart from their parents feels — well… it felt weird, Donghyuck concluded.

“Ah, I see,” Renjun muttered. Donghyuck felt him exhale deeply.

Since the omega asked about his friend, he felt the need to ask as well. “How about you and Lucas?”

At his question, Renjun snorted. “Lucas is a college friend. We did try to date but only for a few months because we realized we’re not meant like that. He’s just so overprotective of me, fetching me after work whenever he knows I’m near my cycle and all those pre-heat you’re an omega shit.”

“He’s a good friend then,” Donghyuck concluded.

Renjun smiled. “He is,” his eyes closing and sleep slowly coming.

It was as if there was a huge balloon that popped between them. Donghyuck couldn’t help the small grin etching on his lips. Bodies still entangled, Donghyuck let himself doze off. He would just clean them up tomorrow.

⇢✴⇠

“Jasmine tea? This is Jaemin’s new menu offering, and I’d like you, the tea connoisseur, to be the judge of it. Don’t worry, I’ll keep it anonymous if you want.”

Donghyuck hopped up to Renjun’s cubicle and shook his hand which was holding a paper cup with the words ‘Nana Cafe’ printed around it. He had seen the new poster ad outside of the cafe about their latest tea collection and immediately thought of the producer. If Jaemin eyed him while ordering a tea along his staple americano, he did not show it and frankly, Donghyuck didn’t mind.

“Oh, you surprised me,” Renjun muttered while the alpha was explaining. After hitting enter on the keyboard, he looked up at the DJ and eyed the drink. An amused grin formed on his lips. How Donghyuck knew about his love for tea, he didn’t know. “Why thank you, Hyuck. You found the best critic for teas.”

Donghyuck handed over the drink and leaned on the divider with his arms crossed. He watched as Renjun opened his drawer, picked up his metal straw, and shot it through the cup cover.

“Well?” He inquired after Renjun took a sip, his eyes wide and brows raised.

Renjun placed the cup on the table and pressed his lips thinly. “Hmm… not bad. It’s actually brewed nicely.”

Donghyuck chuckled and nodded, taking mental note of the producer’s comment to relay to his friend. “That’s good to know.” He walked inside the cubicle and sat on Renjun’s fluffy leg stool.

“So why do you dislike coffee? Is it because of caffeine? Because teas still have an ounce of it, you know.”

Their conversation continued. Donghyuck kept on asking random questions and sharing too much information while Renjun kept replying and laughing along the DJ’s stories, his computer left unnoticed in the background. He had deadlines to meet, reports to accomplish, and files to organize but honestly, those could wait a few minutes. The alpha’s company was a jump to a cliff, refreshing and thrilling, and Renjun could not help falling underwater.

Their coworkers noticed the two getting closer lately but no questions were asked. Behind their backs was a different story, though.

⇢✴⇠

Autumn.

Many believed it to be one of the most sentimental seasons. Lucious colorful nature turning into shades of brown, red, and yellow, leaves falling from its tree, and temperature dropping little by little. Emotional songs rose into the charts as people remembered sweet memories.

If summer was to festivals, then autumn was to guerrilla events.

Due to the recent rise in popularity of Love Corner, the management discussed and agreed to capitalize on it. Kun called Renjun over one day and informed him about the opportunity of their program to host a guerrilla. The PD’s eyes widened, he was frozen for a few seconds before profusely thanking their Head.

It was a big thing. A program doing an outdoor episode was a dream for most, if not all, of radio producers. Guerrilla required a live audience, which meant the radio needed to be famous enough to gather a good number of crowds. Renjun was convinced that Love Corner had a fair number of followers; add in Donghyuck’s growing fanbase and the guerrilla would be a guaranteed success.

“Sound check done. Everybody get ready for the final rehearsals,”

The entire team was busy. Each had tasks to fulfill and they’d be dead meat if they failed; Renjun stressed this during their team meeting this morning.

(“We need this event to be very, very successful. This is a great opportunity for us so let’s all do our best,” He preached, looking everyone in the eye. “Anybody who misses gets a punishment, deal?”

“Samgyupsal treat for the whole team!” Mingyu happily chimed.

“Deal.”)

The producer overlooked the ongoing final rehearsals. As a staple, guerrilla events also included live performances; Seungkwan and Mingyu did a brilliant job of securing amazing singers given their limited budget. After making sure that the mics were working and the floor was compact and not slippery, he headed inside their tents to check their condition.

“Huang PD!”

He turned around at the mention of his name. Seated by the makeup area was none other than Jaemin. He was well made up, hair neatly styled and outfit a beige cardigan over a white shirt. On his hands was the cue sheet for tonight’s program, he was probably reading through to familiarize himself, Renjun thought.

When he announced the news to his team during their team meeting a few weeks ago, he stressed the need to make the event refreshing and interesting. Right away they started brainstorming for possible program flow and one of the ideas thrown was the addition of another emcee along with Donghyuck, which was none other than Jaemin — quite a unanimous decision as everyone shouted his name the moment they expanded the idea of a guest emcee. The omega was undoubtedly a complement to the DJ’s personality and the listeners loved him so much that they kept on requesting for him to appear again. Renjun could not ignore that hence he approved of the consensus.

“Oh you’ve arrived. Thank you for agreeing on our abrupt request, Jaemin.” Renjun walked towards the omega and shook hands with him. Up close he was able to smell cinnamon and vanilla, Jaemin clearly did not use suppressants.

The latter grinned and waved his hand. “It’s nothing in fact I’m thankful for you for this opportunity. My appearance in Love Corner has brought in new customers to my cafe, you know.”

Jaemin was a very beautiful omega, Renjun acknowledged such a fact. He had long curly lashes, wide eyes, and a soft face with some sharp angles. His newly bleached hair only accentuated his beauty ever more. If Renjun ever so bleached his black hair would he look as pretty? Probably not, he thought.

His inner rambling was halted when he got a whiff of a familiar comforting scent. Given their outdoor setting, there were no diffusers to dampen the scents of everyone. Renjun’s nose was slightly taken aback from the onslaught of different pheromones. This though, the dried sandalwood and amber, calmed him unconsciously, his body alert at the approaching body behind him.

“Hey Jaemin do you want to practice together? So we wouldn’t have awkward comments later,” the alpha suggested. “Oh hi Renjun, I didn’t notice you there. Are you okay? You must be tired already, we haven’t even started yet.”

“Hello, Donghyuck,” the producer greeted and smiled, touched. “I’m okay, don't worry I drank some energy drinks a while ago. That’ll help me last ‘till the end.” He chuckled, he’d be beaten as soon as he reached home for sure.

Jaemin, who was looking at the entire exchange with interest, cleared his throat and stood up. “Let’s do a few rounds? I have no experience unlike you so guide me.”

As the two left to rehearse their script, Renjun gathered himself and went back to work. There was only an hour left before the program started, and he could already hear the audience gathering around the area; some were murmuring Donghyuck’s DJ name, trying to get a glimpse of the alpha from the backstage.

“Please make sure unauthorized people won’t loiter around the tents.” He paged the security team from his wireless headset.

“Donghyuck and Jaemin please standby,” Renjun said and counted from ten, until the opening jingle of Love Corner ended. “Go.”

The emcees walked up the stage with bright smiles and settled on the center where a masking tape was placed. The crowd erupted as they saw the two, shouts and cries were heard. Renjun breathed a sigh of relief once he heard the reception, that’s a good sign. He hoped it continued throughout the program.

Donghyuck waited for a few moments, letting the jeers die down before starting. “Good evening lovesick listeners! Are you ready for some night full of love and music?” He paused and pointed his microphone to the audience who excitedly responded with “yes!”

The program went on and performances from some idol groups were held in between. Donghyuck and Jaemin hosted the program very well, there were tons of adlibs and playful banters during their advice segment, and the audience enjoyed it. In fact, they kept cheering for their so-called ‘ship’.

“DongJaem!”

“A visual couple!”

“You guys are cute together!”

The two just laughed it off and went on with their script, though they could not help but allow themselves to play with the audience, flirting, holding hands, and getting close. Such acts fueled the crowd much to their delight. So this is how fanservice felt like, Donghyuck noted. It was fun.

However, Renjun was having none of it. Seeing the two get lovey dovey on stage irritated him; if his eyes could shoot daggers they would probably be lying cold on the floor right now. Pressing his lips tight, he reached for his headset.

“Attention security, don’t allow ranchous behavior from the audience. Stop making them cheer nonsense stuff or I’ll make them ___shut up___ myself.”

He sighed exasperatedly as he threw the headset on the table. They were deejays, not idols for goodness sake! Massaging his temples, he felt stares on him. True enough, his team was looking at him weirdly. Their producer was known to be easily angered but… there’s nothing to be angry about. Or is there?

“What?” Renjun barked, furrowing his brows. “I’m just doing my job.”

Later in the evening, as the audience left and the production crew began their egress, the team welcomed the hosts warmly, complimenting them for a job well done.

“You guys have amazing chemistry together!” Joy remarked.

“I really want Jaemin on our team now as well,” Seungkwan chimed, sighing dreamily. Mingyu tapped his arm giddily. “We can make him a fixed guest!”

At the suggestion, the rest agreed and looked wistfully at their producer who was speaking commands on the headset. Renjun raised his brow and smiled at them. “Now, now let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

After their short meeting wherein they addressed the good things and points of improvement of their event, they all went back to help with packing up. Donghyuck walked towards the producer and patted his shoulder.

“Hey I was wondering if you’d like to come with us for drinks? There’s a cool place nearby.”

Renjun shook his head without sparing him a glance, too preoccupied with tidying their master table. “I’ll pass.”

“O-Oh, I can give you a ride home then,” the alpha offered. The omega sighed and abruptly replied, “I can go home on my own. You go home with Jaemin, or something.”

Taken aback, Donghyuck scratched his head. “Okay, go home safe,” he mumbled and went back to the rest of the team forlornly.

“He didn’t agree to come with,” Jaemin concluded after observing his friend’s face. Hearing him sigh a disappointed “yeah” was a sight to behold. Donghyuck was really transparent yet oblivious at times.

These two were very interesting.

⇢✴⇠

The ringing bass, the sweaty bodies, the striking lights, the deafening music welcomed Donghyuck as he entered the doors of a new club Jaemin had been raving about. The omega insisted that they needed to visit this club named NCT because he heard it was the hottest place for young people right now. “Come on now, we need to unwind! We haven’t gone clubbing in so long!”

That was indeed true. Donghyuck could not remember the last time he went to a club. He knew he had no more reason to go since all he had been doing in clubs was to pickup a ‘fuck for the night,’ something he hadn’t done since he had settled into an unspoken setup with Renjun. For some reason, he just couldn’t bear fucking someone else apart from the producer. It felt wrong… like cheating?

“Let’s get some drinks!”

Jaemin shouting brought him from his reverie, the omega excitedly pulled Jeno and him to the bar. The club was underground and it had two levels, the main one being the lowest floor where the dance floor and bar was. They descended the stairs and past bodies of drunk people to get to the main bar.

“Hey lovely, what can I get for you?” The bartender eyed the omega and grinned.

Jaemin hopped on the stools and leaned towards the man. “Three jager bombs please, hottie.” He winked, flirting back. The bartender chuckled and went to prepare the drinks.

“Cheers!” The three raised their drinks before chugging it in one go. Donghyuck sighed as he felt the alcohol slide his throat, warm and bitter.

They took two more shots after that, an Old Fashioned and a Daiquiri, trying to get themselves in a buzzing feeling before hitting the dance floor. The space was crowded, bodies upon bodies, sweat with sweat. The DJ mixing the music had a killer set, Jaemin said that their resident DJ was one of the reasons this club rose to fame.

“DJ Suh is a wet dream!” The omega yelled at them once he saw a glimpse of the jock at the elevated part of the dance floor.

They danced for a while, well not really dancing but more like bouncing to the beat and doing random hand moves as they went. The alcohol doing its job of making them slightly heedy. This was fun, Donghyuck missed this. It reminded him of his college days.

A few moments after, Jaemin whined about not feeling drunk anymore so they trudged back to the bar to get a few more shots in. However, as soon as they got back to their spot Jeno hollered.

“Lucas? Oh god it is you!”

The man in question turned around and shouted back at Jeno, hugging him tightly. Donghyuck felt whiplashed when he saw where the huge alpha’s arm was snaked around.

“Is that Renjun?” Jaemin squinted his eyes and launched himself to the producer, effectively detaching him from Lucas’s hold. “I never saw you as the party type, but oh my god let’s get drunk together!”

Renjun’s group of friends didn’t get much of a say once Jaemin announced his decision to go as one big group. A drunk Jaemin was a socialite and a persistent one at that.

“So this is Yangyang, Xiaojun, and Hendery,” Lucas introduced their friends to the three, whom he knew from the same company. Apparently, Donghyuck just found out tonight, Lucas worked in Neo Station but for another program. That explained his surprise and uncalled for appearances in their studio.

“Hello guys! I’m Jaemin, this is Jeno and over there is Donghyuck. Want some drinks? It’s on my tab,” the omega said and called the attention of the bartender. In the end each of them got a shot of Old Fashion, a drink Donghyuck could not down in one go because it was rum. He didn’t plan on getting wasted, that was Jaemin’s goal.

While conversing over the loud music, Donghyuck found himself staring at Renjun, who barely paid him any attention. The producer was stuck to Lucas like glue, only participating in the talk when asked, and was currently in another bubble with his friend. That was also his ex, Donghyuck’s brain helpfully supplied.

Groaning, Donghyuck chose to gulp the new drink, a gin tonic, in one shot, leaving the rest of them surprised. They finally secured a table, from Jaemin constantly flirting with the bartender, thus they were seated comfortably with a few bottles on their table.

“Easy there tiger,” one of the new faces, probably Yanyan? Is that his name? Donghyuck couldn’t recall properly. His mind was boggled with thoughts of Renjun and it was annoying him.

Eventually, they started to get back into the dance floor. Donghyuck stayed on the table, claiming someone needs to stay to watch over their stuff. He thought Renjun wouldn’t join them but Lucas held the omega’s hand, tugging him and persuading him to dance. Renjun grinned and let himself be lifted by Lucas’s tug. “Okay I'll join, stop pouting like a big baby!”

It was like Renjun was a metal and Donghyuck’s eyes were magnets, inevitably falling on the pretty omega’s dancing. He looked alluring as he swayed to the beat of the music, smiling, laughing as he bounced. He was like a flame and the people around him were moths, trailing so closely, wanting to dive into the fire. Renjun just looked so charming.

The DJ changed the music into a slower, a bit more sensual RnB. Like an automated machine, the crowd on the dance floor adapted on the music right away. Donghyuck watched Renjun change his dance, less bounce, more grind and rolls. It was captivating, Donghyuck could not let his eyes off for one moment. The omega was fox-like; it was sending him crazy.

Just then, a huge body got close to Renjun, attaching himself on the omega’s back. Of course, of course it was Lucas. Donghyuck felt the annoying tug on his alpha again, but he washed it off with alcohol, pouring himself a shot of vodka and drinking it as he stared at the two.

They looked good together. Lucas was the textbook alpha: tall, muscular, and dominating. He fitted perfectly beside Renjun, who looked smaller, a bit more omega. Another shot.

Renjun was as eager to dance with Lucas, grinning as he grinded back on the alpha. Fuck. Donghyuck downed another shot. That was his omega, not Lucas’s. Not anymore.

Another shot.

And another one.

Until he couldn’t take it.

Donghyuck stood up and felt the ground shake, he was floating but braved it because he was mad right now. He was on a mission.

Marching towards the dance floor, his focus was only zoned on one body. As he reached him, he did not waste anymore time and grabbed his arm.

“What?”

Donghyuck did not mind anyone and dragged him along with one destination in mind. He pushed away people and headed to the comfort room.

“The fuck are you doing? You randomly dragged me here for what?” Renjun yelled as soon as Donghyuck closed the door.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Donghyuck asked, standing near the door and pressing the lock. Renjun made a confused noise, making the alpha raise his brow. “You’re entangled with another alpha and danced with him like a slut. Was it fun?”

The omega shook his head and frowned. “What do you mean? I told you he’s just a friend what’s wrong--”

“You seem to act so oblivious but the truth is you set this up, huh?” Donghyuck cut him off and stepped closer, making Renjun retreat until he hit the wall. “Want me to drag you here in this shitty restroom and fuck you senseless. What a slut.”

Affronted, the smaller turned red at the lewd remarks and pushed the alpha off. “That’s not it. You’re like that too. Ah!”

To no avail, of course, since he was weak from the alcohol and the strong pheromones Donghyuck was letting out. He felt dizzy.

Donghyuck took it as a submission and attacked Renjun’s mouth. It was a clash of teeth, he bit the omega’s bottom lip which emitted a snarl from Renjun. He saw this as an opportunity to enter his tongue inside and explore Renjun’s wet cavity.

Renjun moaned and let himself succumb to the sensation, his omega making him back down and accept whatever the alpha was going to do to him. He was powerless. A thing he didn’t like about omegas was their weakness to pheromones but he was doing just that right now. How funny.

In a rush, Donghyuck littered wet kisses on Renjun’s neck and trailed his hands downwards, his one hand tweaked the omega’s nipples, earning a cry from Renjun, while the other groped his ass.

“I’m going to fuck you here. You’d want that right?” Donghyuck whispered as he licked Renjun’s ear. “Answer.”

Renjun whined, already getting overwhelmed with arousal. “Y-Yes! I want it.”

The alpha turned him around and Renjun, like a good boy he was, canted his hips, presenting himself to Donghyuck. He was far gone, he felt slick gather in his hole when he squeezed it.

“Strip off,” Donghyuck ordered.

Renjun bit his lips and unbuttoned his jeans. Holding the belt loops he tugged the material off until it reached his thighs, his knees. “Stop.” He let go. “Hands on the wall, don’t touch yourself.”

The air sent shivers on Renjun’s skin. Despite the club being a hell of a place, the restroom was an igloo. However the cold didn’t last as a slap on his ass echoed across the room.

“F-Fuck,” Renjun sobbed, surprised at the hit.

Donghyuck grunted, rubbing his ass cheeks before slapping it again. “That’s for being a slut.”

Three more hits after, Renjun found himself panting heavily, his eyes closed, drool falling from his mouth. His cock hard and straining, precum collecting on his slit.

Donghyuck’s hand slithered towards his hole. “Look how wet you are. You liked that? Fucking whore.” He slapped the rim, making Renjun’s breath hitch.

A zip was heard, Renjun gathered his breathing as Donghyuck undressed. The latter only grabbed his cock out of his briefs, his pants stayed on. He jerked it a few times before pointing the tip on the omega’s slick hole.

“Bet you can take my cock without prep,” he said and circled the head around the rim, collecting slick. Renjun whined at the teasing, his hole gaping and ready for the intrusion.

Donghyuck pushed his cock inside, letting the head in, and pulling out almost immediately.

“O-Oh, p-please.” A sob.

He did it a few more times, fucking his head inside the hole, which only got wetter as he teased the rim. Donghyuck grinned, having heard the omega moan pitifully underneath him. “Should I just do this until I come?”

“No!” Renjun grunted and pushed his hips back, wanting to get the length fully inside. “Please put it in. Want to feel you, please.”

“Since you asked so nicely.”

Donghyuck pulled out for a brief second before thrusting the length inside. The slide wasn't the smoothest but he reached the hilt, all from the wet slick swallowing his cock in.

“A-Ah!”

“Fuck, so tight baby.” His hands travelled in front of Renjun and loosened his shirt. His mouth attacked his neck and shoulders, kissing and sucking, leaving pretty marks, waiting for the omega to adjust to the intrusion.

Once he felt Renjun move on his length, he detached himself from the omega and leaned backwards, his hands gripping the omega’s hips, pulling out before slamming back in.

Renjun mewled, hands trying to find purchase on the cold tiled wall as the alpha pistoned his cock inside of him. It felt so good, Donghyuck’s cock making him full and stupid. The alpha had ruined him for others, nobody had fucked him like this, it was insane. They were insane.

Who would’ve thought his well-put facade would break? Renjun never thought he’d get railed in a seedy restroom of a rowdy club. Anyone outside would be able to smell their intense pheromones hanging around. It was filthy but he liked it; Donghyuck brought him to greater heights.

They grew into a steady, heated pace. Donghyuck drew his length in and out of Renjun’s wet and warm cavern—at this point, they were animals.

“Ah! T-There, Hyuck.” A change of angle made the head of Donghyuck’s cock scrape Renjun’s prostate. At the omega’s cry, Donghyuck kept the angle and began hitting his prostate dead on, leaving him in a moaning mess.

Renjun felt his abdomen tighten, his orgasm almost there. “I’m close. M-More!”

“Me too, baby,” Donghyuck panted, keeping the pace brutal.

The omega’s eyes crossed, his toes scrunched, and his body convulsed as orgasm washed over him. Moaning like a bitch in heat, he squeezed Donghyuck’s cock and spurts of cum came from his cocklet.

“S-Shit! Ahhh…”

The tightness urged the alpha to chase his orgasm, canting his cock into the wet hole. He felt his knot enlarge as it slowly got harder for him to pull out. His mouth dived into the omega’s neck, teeth gnawing on the skin, marking him up.

“You’re only mine, baby. No one else.”

Renjun cried at the shot of pain and lust clouding his brain. “Yes, only yours,” he moaned.

“Knot inside me, alpha,” Renjun pleaded, pushing his hips back. He was oversensitive but he wanted the alpha’s knot and cum inside him like crazy.

“F-Fuck, such a foul mouth.” Donghyuck thrusted a bit more but pulled out before his knot locked itself in Renjun. As much as he wanted to, his senses snapped him out and made him remember that they were in a public place.

Tugging his cock a few more times, he groaned as streaks of white painted Renjun’s ass. It looked pretty, all bruised with ropes of white cum.

They panted, catching their breaths. Once Donghyuck cleared his mind, he tucked his cock back inside and zipped his pants, going to the sink to fetch some tissues. He wiped Renjun’s ass clean and did the same on the omega’s cock.

After cleaning both of them and making themselves presentable, Donghyuck locked eyes with Renjun. “Come here,” he pulled the omega into a tight embrace and kissed his forehead.

It was like the earth shifted axis, the universe in a sudden retrograde tonight.

⇢✴⇠

“I think I’m in love.”

The letter read; Donghyuck leaned further towards the prompter to see the message properly.

“We have an ambiguous relationship, not friends, nor lovers, but we hang out often and we even have sex sometimes. He’s fun to be around, we can have conversations about almost anything and the sex is superb, of course. The problem is… I don’t know where I stand with him, am I his boyfriend? Or am I just another fuck buddy? The worst thing is I’m finding myself catching feelings along the way.” Donghyuck paused and inhaled deeply. “SunD, any words of advice would be greatly appreciated. I always listen to you every night while I’m at work. Fighting!”

As he backed away from the screen, he sighed. That was such a long, and heartfelt letter from an anonymous listener. Donghyuck did not know why but his heart felt heavy as he finished reading.

“Wow, that was…” he trailed, trying to find his words. He should start talking and avoid silence, he was on a live radio broadcast. “First of all, thank you very much dear listener for your support and for sending me this letter. Uhm, wow I’m speechless?” He chuckled.

“Anyways, ah labels…” Donghyuck let on, pondering about the topic. “Having an unlabelled relationship is actually the most convenient if you’re just testing the waters--easy, no commitment, you just go with the flow.

The problem now lies once one catches feelings, like our dear listener here. Because we’re in a confusing game of blindfolded tug of war, we don’t know how to act accordingly. We can’t be jealous, we don’t have the right.”

Donghyuck paused, remembering something, images of someone, and cleared his throat.

“We have almost everything in a relationship--just not the label. And that sucks. So a piece of wise advice is to clear it out. Be honest. After all, in every relationship communication is key. I think I always say this but it still remains. Talk it out, ask your person…”

He looked in front and beyond the glass window, at Renjun, longingly. A realization sparks, like a detonating bomb, too long before he noticed.

“What are we? What am I to you? Can we be more than… this?”

The producer turned to his direction and Donghyuck returned his gaze back to the computer. Red, he felt warm.

Clearing his throat again, he bit his lip. “Define the relationship, lovesick listeners. Just so both of you are on the same page.”

Donghyuck felt like panting. Heart pounding so loud he was scared it might explode and others might hear its secret. Squeezing his fist, he took even breaths. His head was spinning, replaying images of his times with Renjun.

While the upbeat, hopeful song of Some by Soyou and Jungigo was playing in the background, Donghyuck drew into a realization. He gasped.

Maybe he was in love.

⇢✴⇠

Giving advice was one thing.

Following advice was another.

Especially if the advice originally came from you.

Donghyuck did not know how to do ___it___. How do you even confess anyway? How do you shift the topic to determining your label? He should be good at these things, he’s SunD for goodness sake!

Sadly, SunD was just a front.

Donghyuck really sucked in the love department, as ironic as it was. He was just all bark and no bite, a DJ who thrived from the love problems of his listeners and acted like King Solomon, only ___knowing___ what to say based on the romantic movies and series he watched. Cupid must have been really embarrassed of him now.

To be fair, he just had a slap of reality. A daunting realization he had been oblivious to these past few months. All those stares from afar and attempts to get to know their producer were apparently not because of his need to expose him, but because he was curious about him.

Oh god, Donghyuck had a crush on Renjun.

Just the thought of this recent discovery made him warm all over. He wasn't a teenager anymore, seriously, why was he blushing like a fool?

Donghyuck grunted. He fixed his hair and straightened his clothes. No, he didn’t score a date with Renjun ___yet___ (oh god he’s really claiming it, what an idiot), but he called Renjun to come over to the office patio before they started recording.

Tonight, he decided to be a man of his words. They needed to settle this… whatever this thing they had been on for months.

Pacing around the patio, his brain lacked ways to tell Renjun. Should he ask about the weather first? No, that was some weak shit. Should he just dive for it then? That might shock the producer. Should he give a backtrack of what they’ve been doing?

He sighed. Maybe he should just tell Renjun to not come up now. He wasn't ready.

Before he could fully chicken out, however, Renjun opened the glass door to the patio and walked towards Donghyuck; his stride was deliberate as if he had something to say.

“Oh, h-hello Renjun!”

“Donghyuck,” He did not greet back, making the alpha ___a bit___ sad. “Good thing you called me here. I’ve been meaning to tell you something but the opportunity just never came.”

He frowned, quite agitated and partly excited. Would Renjun beat him and ask him first? Could that be it?

Renjun pressed his lips and sighed. “I think we should stop.”

Huh?

It seemed like Donghyuck said it out loud because the producer repeated: “I think we should stop ___this___. The hookups.”

Oh.

Donghyuck should never get his hopes up, he always just got disappointed in the end.

⇢✴⇠

“So you’re telling me… you just let him walk out after dropping that bomb on you?”

There was a huff from Donghyuck, which seemed like part acknowledgement and part offense as if the question was meant to attack him. Please, his best friend should comfort him at all times, not… make him seem even more like an idiot. He already knew that, no more rubbing salt on the fresh wound.

Jaemin could not help the fit of light chuckles escaping him. He got a pointed look from the alpha and he waved it off. “Sorry, sorry. It’s just so funny to me. After months of pining, you finally grew some balls to address the elephant in the room but Renjun cut you off before the love story even began.”

“You’re not helping, Jaem.”

The said man stopped grinning and looked at the poor state of his friend, who suddenly barged inside his apartment, with the passcode he knew by heart, and cuddled Jaemin’s sleeping figure, jolting the omega awake at twelve in the morning.

“Shouldn’t you at least ask him why? You know Newton’s third law of motion.”

“The who of what?” Donghyuck frowned.

“For every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Don’t give me that look, the guy I’m interested in right now is a teaching assistant, I’m trying to woo his ass.” Jaemin defended himself. Truth be told, he wasn't really the smartest in this friend group, but he needed to attract an alpha.

“Anyways, this is not about me.” Deflecting from turning the conversation to his latest romantic endeavour, he returned the focus to his best friend’s demise. “What I mean is that of course, Renjun wouldn’t just do that without a reason, or without getting prompted to. Did something happen before the talk?”

Donghyuck tried to wrack his brain of any memories that would possibly help him understand Renjun’s sudden decision to end their relationship. Well, not that they even had one, it was complicated.

Uh, anyways. Back to remembering.

“I don’t think there is any specific event…” Donghyuck trailed as his thoughts brought him back to that night in the club. Could that be the reason? Did Renjun hate him for taking him publicly like that? He thought they were fine, that was a few days ago and they acted the same after. They flirted, had dinners, and Donghyuck drove him home. Did he just assume everything was alright all along? God that made him like a douche alpha.

Sensing his best friend’s discomfort, Jaemin clicked his tongue and patted Donghyuck’s head. “Okay, maybe it’s worse if we think about it and presume things. Hyuck, you know it’s best to ask Renjun about it.”

⇢✴⇠

That was easier said than done.

In concept, Donghyuck could have just initiated a talk with Renjun ___again___ and settled this once and for all, maybe confess along the way if the situation called for it, and he’d be certain of himself and his stance with Renjun already.

But reality worked differently. Donghyuck never got the courage and Renjun was adamant on acting nonchalant. That’s what put the alpha off—the producer was not blatantly avoiding him, rather he was just… civil. Like the past few months never happened.

Like they were back to being ___just___ coworkers again. Renjun’s the producer and he was the DJ of Love Corner, nothing more.

Renjun taught him that in broadcasting, dead air should be avoided at all costs. Radio should always be noisy: songs should be playing, ads should be rolling, and people should be talking. The only time their station would be quiet was if their radio stops programming entirely — something quite impossible because Neo Station’s a 24/7 radio.

It was just quite funny that the producer himself was giving him radio silence right now.

To Donghyuck who recently had an understanding of his real feelings, it was hard. He never even had a chance to tell Renjun. Well, not like the omega would accept it warmly anyway, he called ___it___ off because he was sick of Donghyuck. Maybe he saw right through him and thought it’d be best to end it so the alpha wouldn’t raise his hopes all the more.

Jaemin told him not to assume things but he couldn’t help it. He was too chicken to face him head on and probably experience another rejection. His alpha pride would take a huge hit.

And so, Donghyuck’s game plan was to just live with it.

Like tonight.

The annual National Radio Awards was the most awaited event of everyone working in the industry. It acknowledged all the top performing and remarkable radio programs as well as the people behind those shows. Similar to television and film awards, it’s separated into different subcategories and despite being a rookie, Love Corner was nominated in three awards.

The event hall was big and spacious. There’s a red carpet and a handful of journalists and photographers everywhere, documenting the whole event and interviewing relevant personalities. The guests were dressed to the nines; Donghyuck himself was sporting a fitted suit and tie from a local fashion line who kindly sponsored his outfit. He needed to look clean and stylish because according to Ten, he was slowly becoming a famous radio celebrity.

“Let’s settle on our table, the program will start shortly.” Renjun called the attention of his whole team, leading them to the direction of their reserved seats. It was no surprise to Donghyuck that the producer chose the seat farthest from him—even though his name was plastered on the seat next to the alpha, he still sat on closest to the aisle, claiming that he was nervous thus might need frequent restroom trips.

Nevermind, Donghyuck told himself. He should just focus on the event.

The program went on smoothly. Awards were announced one by one and the trophies were given to deserving people. Donghyuck was slightly disappointed that they did not bag the first of their three nominations -- the Fan’s Choice award -- but accepted that they might be too young to have a solid listener fanbase already. Hopefully next year they gain more support.

“The winner of the Rising DJ personality, FM category is…” the presenter paused, giving the nominees a bit of suspense before continuing. “Lee Donghyuck also known as SunD. Congratulations!”

At the mention of his name, his team stood up from their seats, surprised and zealous from having their DJ win an award. The said winner, Donghyuck, was still in a state of shock.

Did he mishear it or --

“Hyuck get up you dummy!” came Renjun’s hiss.

Oh, it was real.

He walked towards the stage and respectfully accepted the small trophy, shaking hands with the people upstage as he did. He stepped towards the mic stand and thought of what to say.

“I’m speechless. Oh god, thank you very much for this award. Coming into this industry without much knowledge was intimidating, to be frank, but meeting the right team really helped a lot.” Donghyuck glanced at the row where his team sat and beamed. “I wouldn’t be able to get this award without them. Again, thank you very much!”

He bowed as the applause rang across the hall, his ears were ringing at the praises that came as he found his way back to his spot. The rest of their team greeted him with all smiles but turned back in an instant to focus on the speaker who was about to announce the winner of the Rising FM Radio Program, their third and final nomination.

Were they expecting a win? Sure, Donghyuck guessed. The team worked hard in the past eight months and yielded results that only got better as time passed. High ratings, huge following, and even a guerilla event — all from a rookie program. Of course, he’d like to brag about their passion for their job too, though it was given that other nominees also felt the same. If anything, he’s already beyond grateful to be nominated thrice.

“Congratulations, Love Corner by Neo Station!”

And won twice.

The entire row jumped in delight as their program got called. Elated, some couldn’t help but embrace each other; Donghyuck got hugged by a very teary-eyed Jisung. Eventually, Renjun led the pack and walked upstage. He received the trophy and did the speech on behalf of everyone, deservingly so; as much as it was everybody’s win, Donghyuck knew they wouldn’t be able to produce amazing results without Renjun’s guidance. The PD might have been cold and intimidating but for a reason, and such led them to this feat right now.

The rest of the event passed by quickly, Donghyuck quoting adrenaline as the primary cause. He was just excited for the awards show to finish and celebrate their wins. Roughly an hour passed before the organizer gave out his closing remarks, and Renjun lobbied everyone to the exit as the event officially ended.

They all separated into smaller groups, those who brought their cars to convoy each other enroute to the restaurant their company had reserved. Kun invited them over way before the event started, saying that the company wanted to honor every nominee regardless of a win. Thankfully, many programs from Neo Station bagged awards, making the dinner even more worth it.

The Chinese restaurant was situated in the heart of the metro, inside a well-known five star hotel. The interior was sleek, as to be expected; fortune statues made from gold decorated the entire floor and the furnitures were blood red — a lucky color of the Chinese. Donghyuck remembered Renjun talking about his red satchel, a lucky charm he always had inside his bag.

(“It gives me the confidence boost, especially for work,” Renjun explained, emphasizing the last part as he pointed a knowing look to him. Donghyuck chuckled and wrapped an arm around the omega’s waist, placing a soft kiss on his bare shoulders. “That confidence makes you sexy. Guess I gotta thank the lucky satchel then.”)

Ugh. He was thinking about Renjun again. Like a fool.

Directing his attention back to the present, he noticed that the company rented a huge room. There were five huge round tables to accommodate all of them and on each table, various dishes were laid on the Lazy Susan. Donghyuck heard his stomach grumble as he eyed the dishes, walking towards their designated table. Even though they were the first to exit the hall, they arrived last because paparazzis wanted to interview both Renjun and him. Something along the lines of the rising radio personalities.

Speaking of the producer, Donghyuck’s breath hitched seeing the only empty seat beside him. He eyed Renjun curiously, as if asking for permission from the omega, yet he was pulled down by Jisung, who sat on his left.

“Let’s eat, I'm starving!” The youngest grumbled.

And they engulfed everything on the table and even asked for seconds. To Seungkwan’s defense, it was all paid by the company thus they must eat a year’s worth of salary, making the entire table laugh and eat along. The food was phenomenal, nothing out of the ordinary for a stellar restaurant. Donghyuck wondered how much a serving cost in this establishment but figured it'd be something he could only afford for special occasions.

Soon after, the drinks came flowing as the night went on. It was a tradition; the Koreans liked to celebrate every living day and they did it with alcohol ___all the time___. Donghyuck sometimes wondered how they were still able to function like normal people the day after, but he figured it came with being born Korean.

“Everybody listen, listen.” There was a clunking noise from the other table. Kun was softly hitting his glass with a spoon; he stood up once he garnered the eyes of everyone and placed the utensils on the table.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude and admiration to everyone in this room. It has been a wonderful year for our station. There were tough times, indeed, but our tenacity to break through and provide quality content to our listeners surpassed every difficulty; the trophies we bagged tonight signify as much. Again, congratulations everyone — win or not. Let’s keep this spirit for the next year as well.”

Kun raised his glass of whiskey and the others followed suit. “Cheers!” Everyone cheered as they gulped their respective drinks.

As Seungkwan advised, Donghyuck found himself downing a bourbon tonight. It was totally not the type of drink he’d frequent due to its price, thus he was making the most of it right now. The alcohol was different — it was richer, the thick aroma wafting on the glass as he circled it — a stark contrast to the cheap vodkas and beers he usually drank.

Despite the unagreed consensus to get wasted, Donghyuck preferred to handle his alcohol tonight. He’d much rather enjoy the expensive whiskey than lose himself in the spirit. He didn’t want a repeat of that night at the club for two reasons: 1) he was drinking with his colleagues, and more importantly, 2) Renjun would kill him. The alpha was partly convinced that it was his rash actions that led the producer to break things off.

He scoffed. Break things off? They were never together. Officially, at least.

Thinking about the omega made his heart churn. He poured himself another shot and gulped it in one go, the alcohol slitting his throat warmly. Renjun was sitting beside him and happily conversing with a fellow PD. He looked happy. He deserved it, Donghyuck thought as he took a sip.

He looked over the Lazy Susan for any snacks to munch on. He was a firm believer of drinking while eating because an empty stomach would just lead him to a bad state the morning after. Seeing dumplings on a ceramic plate, he extended his arm to pick one but was pushed off by another pair of chopsticks.

“Don’t eat that,” Renjun warned, making the alpha frown. Oh, so after ignoring him for so long, he would even threaten him about food?

He wanted to retort but Renjun beat him to it, handing him another piece of dumpling from his own plate. “That one has shrimp, you’re allergic to that right? Eat this instead. It’s beef, completely safe.”

How did he remember? Donghyuck asked himself. He only blurted it out after the omega offered to eat dinner at a seafood place downtown for a change. That was a minor fact about him that even Jaemin sometimes forgot.

“T-Thanks,” Donghyuck muttered weakly, eyeing Renjun’s plate that was now in front of him. Renjun realized that the only remaining dumplings on the table were shrimp ones, therefore he took the initiative to hand his plate of beef dumplings to Donghyuck. “Why did you give everything?”

Renjun spared him a glance and shrugged. “I suddenly craved for shrimp instead.”

The alpha didn’t know what to make of it. The random act of kindness threw him off guard. It had been months since they cared for each other, they just acted civil after that day, so it was all new again to him. Did Renjun still care for him? Perhaps, Donghyuck’s alcohol-addled brain supplied, Renjun wanted him back? Why else would he remember a little thing such as his allergy and offer his whole share?

The other part of Donghyuck argued back. Maybe he was just looking at this too much; Renjun just recalled a piece of information out of the blue and decided it was best not to witness Donghyuck heaving wildly after consuming shrimp. Yeah, maybe that was the case.

Overwhelmed with an influx of thoughts and emotions, Donghyuck stood from the table and grabbed his coat, murmuring a quiet “I need a smoke” before heading towards the lift. He went down, to the ground floor, towards the smoke patio beside the building where there was nothing but benches and garbage bins with ashtrays on top. He settled on a spot near a bin and lighted a stick, taking a quick drag and letting the smoke sit on his lungs for a brief moment before exhaling it out.

It was cold; the winter air made him shiver despite the thick layers he had put on. Research claimed that alphas were able to withstand drastic changes in weather, and he wasn’t the type who gets cold easily — perhaps there was just something different with the air tonight.

Maybe it was just his heart, Donghyuck’s brain awfully supplied, making him stifle a light chuckle at the bad association. Looking up, he gazed at the black sky. There were no stars littering above, he couldn’t even spot the moon; the only thing brightening the surroundings were the lamp posts and the skyscrapers. If Renjun saw this he’d be disappointed. The omega loved stargazing, he admitted one night they went for beer at Han river after work.

(“Stars are so enchanting. They’re lightyears away from us but because they’re so bright they twinkle at night. Most of them are dead stars, but you surely wouldn’t notice, for they still shine.” Renjun sipped his beer and laid flat on the grass.

“Let’s spot some constellations!”)

Donghyuck breathed another drag of cigarette as he berated himself for thinking about him ___again___. Granted, Donghyuck had been faring well ever since Renjun cut things off. He managed to maintain the peaceful working environment between the two of them, only talking to him if it was necessary, no more extra chats before work and no more texts in Kakao. It hurt though. He knew his feelings wouldn’t vanish by ignoring it, especially since he knew he hadn’t done anything about it yet, but giving Renjun space was what he believed was the best course of action.

He was sure Renjun hated him. He was a shitty alpha who acted on jealousy and from there, the omega probably realized the budding feelings. Donghyuck convinced himself that the feeling was not mutual, but why was the producer acting weird?

“Stupid,” Donghyuck groaned, ticking the cigarette on the ashtray, eyes fixed on the ground now. His silly heart was just making him think of foolish things. He should move on and he knew he should gain closure by talking to Renjun. SunD always advised his listeners to do that.

So much for being the rising DJ, or something.

“Got a spare cig?”

He looked up at the owner of the voice and as if the universe wanted him to suffer, there was Renjun in front of him, hugging his own body, protecting himself from the cold. He was wearing a padded coat but Donghyuck knew that it wasn’t enough to fully shield him from the winter breeze. He looked cute with his red nose though.

Donghyuck shook his head, removing those thoughts, but Renjun saw it. “O-Oh, okay. I thought you always bring a box with you. I’m gonna buy at the CU next--”

“No, Renjun, I, I mean…” Donghyuck cupped his coat and offered his box. “H-Here.”

Renjun opened the pack and got one, taking the lighter inside as well. “Thanks.” He lit a stick and returned the rest to the alpha. “Smoke helps bring down the food.” He chuckled.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck quipped, smiling faintly.

They fell into an awkward silence after that short exchange. He didn’t know how to continue the conversation; there wasn’t any opportunity for them to be alone together lately. Biting his lower lip, Donghyuck focused on relaxing himself through minimal drags from his cigarette.

“So… Rising DJ, huh? Congratulations.” Renjun sat beside him. If the producer noticed him inching farther, he didn’t mind. He was giving space, quite literally, now.

“Thanks. I don’t know why I won to be honest, I’m stupid when it comes to love.” Donghyuck sighed, his feet playing with the rocks.

Renjun clucked his tongue. “That’s not true. You deserve it, Donghyuck.” He turned his head to look at the alpha whose eyes were trained on the ground. Hesitating, he murmured, “You give good advice, too.”

Donghyuck laughed at that, pressing the butt on the ashtray, killing its fire. “I can’t follow my own advice, that makes me a hypocrite, right?”

“Okay, if that’s the case then SunD, give me advice,” Renjun started, taking a long drag of smoke before continuing. “What would you do if you ruined something special with someone whom you were almost lovers with just because you got scared?”

Surprised at the sudden request, Donghyuck shrugged the odd feeling off his chest and crossed his arms. “Depends. Why did you get scared?”

“I was told to define the relationship.” Renjun replied nonchalantly.

“Huh?”

The omega looked up and frowned after seeing the dark sky. Sighing, he continued talking about his concern.

“After knowing my feelings, I asked for advice from someone reputable. They said I should confront the person I’m in love with and ask him if the feeling’s mutual. And, if we want to label things, officially at least. But you know SunD, that was easier said than done. When he called me over, because I guess he was about to beat me to it, I got scared. Doubts started to come. I questioned myself and my feelings, and his behavior too. Was I just mistaking love from lust? That’s why I ran away and walked out from the possibility, and now I’m regretting it.”

Donghyuck’s head was swimming. He felt like Renjun was implying something, something that might be the answer to his question for quite a while. Dizzy, he stood up and patted his coat.

“I, I don’t, I mean… you know what I always say, communication is key. T-Talk it out. Tell--”

“I’m in love with you.”

“Tell him about-- huh?” Donghyuck was frozen, not by the winter air, but from what he just heard. Did he hear it wrong?

Renjun stood up as well and faced the alpha. Hiding the smile escaping from his lips, he bit his lip, looking at him shyly. “I said I’m in love with you, Hyuck.”

“Is this a prank?” Donghyuck hated how his brain-to-mouth filter wasn’t working. Realizing his mistake, he slapped his mouth and scratched his head. “Sorry I’m just surprised. I, I never thought you…”

Speechless, he was.

Renjun chortled, his cheeks now red too. He stepped closer to Donghyuck until they were only two feet apart. Pouting, he asked. “Do you have anything to say?”

It was like the world snapped and cleared Donghyuck’s mind, finally crossing the space between them and staring at the other intently; Renjun’s eyes were so bright they held their own stars in it.

Beaming, Donghyuck whispered. “The feeling’s mutual. Renjun, I’m in love with you too.”

Their kiss was very different. It had been a long time since and now they’d finally let it out in the open; getting Renjun close again like this sparked something inside Donghyuck. The omega tasted the same, although there was still a faint trace of the nicotine from both their mouths. It was sweeter regardless, and Donghyuck wanted to combust right there and then.

Breaking away from the kiss, both of them caught their breath. Donghyuck rubbed his own nose on Renjun’s, emitting a small chuckle from the latter.

“You make me crazy, Renjun.”

⇢✴⇠

As the song came to an end, it faded out, and Donghyuck prepared for his backsell.

“That song was Hey Stupid, I Love You by JP Saxe. Do know we also check our emails for any entries! Here’s one from a lovely listener.” At his cue, Jisung played the voice message sent to their mail.

“Hey, SunD! This is Soonyoung. I’m just here to thank you for telling me to test the waters and take the risk. Because of you, I found my mate. I hope good things happen to you as well. Fighting!”

Donghyuck’s chest expanded as he listened to the thoughtful message. It really felt touching to know his listeners heeded his advice and got something positive from it. Glancing on the glass window, he locked eyes with Renjun, who was smiling back at him.

“I found love here, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! comments are very, very, very much appreciated! <3
> 
> stay safe~
> 
> gush about nct and fics with me? <3 [twt](https://twitter.com/wowjunjun) / [cc](https://curiouscat.me/wowjunjun)


End file.
